Depending on the pest complex and crops involved, there is a benefit- • 

 cost ratio or 4-1 to lO-l. The cost includes those of monitoring fields, 

 advising farmers, and applying pest suppression methods. Only about 

 2 million cultivated acres are now under the pilot pest management 

 program (for crops other than cotton), but with an adequately supported 

 educational system the potential is about 85 percent of most cultivated 

 fruit, forage, vegetable, and high value field crops. 



A number of states have demonstrated prototype predictive models 

 to more accurately forecast local pest outbreaks and provide farmers 

 and pest management advisors with better decisionmaking capabilities. 

 There is increasing acceptance of the programs and a willingness of 

 farmers to pay the cost of monitoring field populations of pests either 

 by hiring consultants or by forming grower owned pest management 

 cooperatives. v : 



An outgrowth of this pilot pest management program has been the . 

 development of many training and informational materials. States 

 have developed educational materials to meet their local needs. 



The Extension Service-USDA, working cooperatively with the states, 

 has developed educational publications and teaching aids for diverse 

 audiences. These include a leaflet on Integrated Pest Management - 

 Saves Dollars and Environment , which gives information on the nature 

 and benefits of the program. The Extension Service also published 

 Establishing and Operating Grower-Owned Organizations for Integrated 

 Pest Management for use with farmers and state Extension staffs. 

 The Farmer Cooperative Service has published Cooperatives in Integrated 

 Pest Management as a guide for farm leadership and managers of 

 service cooperatives. — l , 



Eight 14 to 36-minute movies have been produced on IPM by the Extension 

 Service. These cover corn, apples, alfalfa, pears, grain sorghum, peanuts, 

 cotton, soybeans, and vegetables. The Extension Service has produced 

 a 45-minute TV video-tape and a movie depicting the general principles 

 and benefits of IPM. These visual aids are primarily designed for farmers 

 but are instructive to other audiences. 



The Extension Service has developed cooperative agreements with 

 lead states to develop 13 regional IPM publications: 



— Pest Management for Alfalfa Seed Production 



~ Tobacco Pest Management 



