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| What Is Integrated Pest Management?
Integrated pest management uses biocontrol measures, biotechnology, cultural practices, and precision application of pesticides to protect crops, ornamentals, livestock, and people from harmful insects and other pests. The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains a National IPM Network to link a cooperating group of universities, government agencies, and other organizations and to provide up-to-date, accurate information for pest management. You can learn about the NIPMN at www.ipmcenters.org/. Case studies and other information are organized by crop, pest, location, or tactics. Click on the region button and then on your own state on the map to find out about issues where you live. What are the top insect problems in your region and what can be done about them in an environmentally friendly way? You can find more information at www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/.
Which Pesticides Are Used in Your State?
The National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy lists pesticide use by state or crop. Go to pestdata.ncsu.edu/ncfap/search.cfm, and under the Pesticide Type drop-down menu, select an option, then click Send Year and Region. Now you will have an option of selecting a pesticide (or herbicide or fungicide), a crop, or a state. Select your state and leave the other options blank in order to view the chemicals used, and the crops they are used on, in your state. You should get a table listing the chemicals used for your state. (If the results are returned in an illegible table, try using another type of browser—for example, Netscape instead of Internet Explorer.) How many compounds are used? Which crops use the most pesticides/herbicides/ fungicides? Which compounds are used in the greatest volume?
Pesticides from Natural Sources
The EPA monitors pesticide use and development. Much information about pesticides is available at the website www.epa.gov/pesticides/. Go to this site and look in the index for Biopesticides, with the subheadings What are Biopesticides?, Regulatory Activity, and Active Ingredients. Look at the explanation of what biopesticides are; then look at the list of active ingredients in the Biopesticide Fact Sheets. This is a long list with many unfamiliar terms, but take a few minutes to try to identify what sorts of compounds there are and what their uses are. How many active ingredients are listed? Choose several and identify the source, how it works, and what risks are associated with each. Now look at the regulatory activity page for biopesticides, www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/product_lists/new_ai_2003.htm. This page lists recent and pending decisions on applications for approval of new biopesticides or for new uses for existing pesticides, and for exemptions from current controls. Look at the list of recent actions (entries indicating approval or exemptions established, or rejection). What is the approximate ratio of rejections to approvals? Discuss with other students how this ratio can best be explained. |