-7- 



Who Should Perform IPM Scouting ? If growers are to have peace of 

 mind regarding pest pressures on their orchards, and if pesticide 

 costs (especially for insecticides and miticides) are to be reduced, 

 some form of field scouting is needed. This scouting may be per- 

 formed by the grower, by a staff person, or by someone other than 

 the grower or staff member. 



It was the general opinion of workshop speakers that scouting 

 is probably best not left with growers since they are frequently 

 busy with other management decisions. Some capable staff person 

 would be acceptable provided they are free to scout when necessary 

 rather than as other orchard jobs permit. 



Massachusetts IPM, with the institution of our "grower scout" 

 training appears to be unique in this regard, as the majority of 

 our "grower scouts" made observations with our field teams on a 

 weekly (sometimes more often) basis. Several "grower scouts" 

 scouted additional acreage in their orchards as well as indicated 

 their interest in continuing the scouting procedures after IPM 

 pilot program funds ended in September, 1982. However, most speakers 

 at Kansas City agreed that some outside person, whose only respon- 

 sibilities were scouting, is more likely to have the time and inter- 

 est for training in pest identification, control measures (including 

 alternatives) and economic threshold levels. 



What is Cooperative Extension's Role in IPM ? Conference partici- 

 pants generally stressed that Cooperative Extension's role in IPM 

 is threefold. One important area is the implementation of research 

 programs related to IPM, including an in depth look at pest bio- 

 logies and life histories, development of effective monitoring 

 techniques and the establishment of appropriate economic thres- 

 hold levels (ETL) . 



A second role consists of creation and operation of effective 

 commodity-based pilot programs to develop necessary base-line data 

 and demonstrate, if possible, the potential environmental and econ- 

 omic benefits that accrue to participating growers. 



Lastly, there was unanimous agreement that Extension should 

 continue after pilot program funding ends to play a role with regard 

 to education of growers, updating monitoring methods and ETL's, 

 as well as training and supervision of field scouts. 



It would appear that the Extension Service is best equipped to 

 utilize high technology (computers, weather forecasting networks, 

 etc.) for information gathering and dispersal, to carry out needed 

 research, and to coordinate an interdisciplinary approach to pest 

 management once pilot programs have run their course. 



Several states offer scout training courses (up to 80 hrs. in 

 some cases) through their Extension Service. Many have an exam 



