Development of a Program for Grower and 

 Consultant Education and Certification 

 in Integrated Pest Management 



William M. Coli and Craig S. Hollingsworth 



Integrated Pest Management Program, University of Massachusetts 



Recent consumer concerns over pesticides and food 

 safety have been reported conspicuously in local and 

 national media. Consumers are increasinglywary of the 

 food supply; they seek assurance that their food is safe. 

 Massachusetts growers have experienced reduced sales 

 from this media attention, and growers need a mecha- 

 nism to demonstrate to consumers that their produce is 

 safe. 



One approach to this problem that some consumers 

 have taken, is to buy organically produced food. How- 

 ever, considerations of produce availability, quality, and 

 price, as well as technology and production costs, limit 

 the production of organic produce in the Common- 

 wealth. Another attempt to allay consumers' concern 

 over food safety has been the use of a "low spray" or 

 "IPM" label on produce. Such labelling has been lim- 

 ited, as no generally accepted standards for these catego- 

 ries exist. 



Because adoption of IPM by commercial growers in 

 Massachusetts has been high, many growers have 

 mentioned their interest in being recognized for their 

 practices. Further, sponsors of pending pesticide reform 

 legislation are considering language that would give a 

 waiver of pollution liability for growers who use IPM. 



In response to these developments, we submitted a 

 proposal to Massachusetts Department of Food and 

 Agriculture to develop a program of IPM education and 

 performance certification using resources at the Univer- 

 sity. Since as this proposal has received first-year fund- 

 ing, we believe it would be useful to inform growers, 

 consultants, and others of our plans at this time. 



Objectives 



The objectives of this project are threefold: 1) To 

 develop a state-wide program for the education of grow- 

 ers and agricultural consultants in the principles of 

 integrated pest management; 2) To develop guidelines 

 and standards to certify crops which are grown using 

 IPM principles; and, 3) to design and facilitate implem- 

 entation of a program of IPM performance certification. 



Expected Results from This Project 



Through educational materials and programs, it 

 is expected that this program will result in increased 

 knowledge of IPM by Massachusetts growers, and 

 that knowledge will result in greater adoption of IPM 

 techniques throughout the Commonwealth. 

 Through increased training and awareness, and 

 greater availability, more IPM-trained professional 

 consultants and scouts will be hired by the private 

 sector, further increasing the adoption on IPM and 

 creating jobs. 



Increased use of IPM will result in reduced pesti- 

 cide use in the Commonwealth. Growers using IPM 

 certification on their produce will reap a marketing 

 advantage, when consumers, educated to IPM la- 

 belling, purchase produce that they know has been 

 grown using practices minimizing environmental dis- 

 ruption, and with minimal and safe pesticide use. 



Educational Program 



A project specialist will work with other Univer- 

 sity of Massachusetts research and Cooperative Ex- 

 tension staff to develop the curriculum and course 

 materials for an IPM short course. The short course 

 will be designed to teach growers, consultants, and 

 field personnel the basic principles and practices of an 

 integrated pest and crop management strategy. 

 Likely topics to be covered by the short course would 

 include: ecology of the agroecosystem; economic 

 thresholds; weather and disease monitoring; pest 

 sampling methodology; practical biological control; 

 cultural controls; and record keeping systems. Also 

 included would be topics on pesticide technology, 

 including: toxicology; effects of pesticides on non- 

 target organisms; movement of pesticides in the envi- 

 ronment; pesticide selection; biorational pesticides; 

 and sprayer calibration. 



IPM short courses will be presented at Waltham 

 and Amherst. A test on the material will be given. 

 Individuals passing the test will receive a certificate of 



Fruit Notes, Winter, 1990 



17 



