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May 7, 2004
Mike Gray
The
Bulletin - University of
Illinois
Fourteen years ago, I
presented a paper at the 1990 Illinois Crop Protection Workshop
titled "Integrated Pest Management in
Illinois: A Look at the Last 15 years and into the 1990s." It seems
appropriate that I now pause and reflect on the last 15 years,
and offer some thoughts regarding the future of IPM efforts in
this state.
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As I pointed out
in the 1990 paper, the first organized Extension IPM project
in Illinois started in 1972, with a pilot scouting
initiative in
Boone County.
This first IPM
thrust was almost exclusively devoted to scouting for
insects and using rudimentary economic thresholds. Within
Boone County, 115
cornfields were enrolled in this pilot program, which
included a total of 4,268 acres.
The following information was collected for each cornfield:
(1) field histories were obtained;
(2) plant stands were taken;
(3) European corn borer whorl feeding was measured;
(4) corn rootworm larval counts were obtained;
(5) levels of corn leaf aphids were assessed; and
(6) records were kept on the abundance of predators,
parasites, and diseased insects. |
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Farmers
looking for corn rootworm larvae, early
University of Illinois IPM scouting program. |
The costs incurred
during this coordinated scouting program, including total labor,
travel, and subsistence allowances, were estimated to be 50
cents per acre! Pete Petty, Illinois' first Extension
entomologist, thought that costs could be reduced over time: "If
we continue this pilot program, further refinements may reduce
the per-acre cost." In 1973, the University of Illinois College
of Agriculture began to receive annual federal support to
conduct IPM educational programs. That support continues to this
day. Over time, primarily due to inflation, support in our
land-grant institutions for IPM Extension programs has eroded.
For the most recent federal fiscal year, IPM extension programs
in all 50 states have seen their budgets reduced by 10%. I hope
that these funds will be restored in the 2005 budget cycle. Will
political support for IPM educational programs continue to
diminish?
In August 2001, the
U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) issued the report
"Agricultural Pesticides--Management Improvements Needed to
Further Promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM)." This document
was compiled in response to Senator Patrick Leahy's request that
the status of IPM adoption in U.S. agriculture be accurately
assessed.
In 1993, in response
to the Clinton administration, the USDA established a goal of
75% implementation of IPM practices on the nation's crop acres.
This 1993 initiative has continued to receive mixed reviews. On
pages 11 and 12 of the GAO Report (GAO-01-815 Agricultural
Pesticides), sharp criticism is leveled at the agricultural
establishment for the continued escalation of pesticide use:
"Although some IPM practices have resulted in significant
reductions in pesticide use, nationwide use of chemical
pesticides in agriculture has not declined since the beginning
of the IPM Initiative. Chemical pesticide use in
agriculture--which accounts for about three-fourths of all
pesticides used in the
United States--has
increased from about 900 million pounds in 1992 to about 940
million pounds in 2000, according to EPA, even as total cropland
has decreased. However, data on total pesticide use aggregates
relatively benign pesticides, such as sulfur and mineral oil,
with more risky chemical pesticides, including organophosphates,
carbamates, and probable or possible carcinogens. This subset of
pesticides--which has been identified by the EPA as posing the
greatest risk to human health--is suspected of causing
neurological damage, cancer, and other adverse human health
effects."
There is a silver
lining to this cloud. The GAO report also indicates that "use of
the riskiest subset of pesticides decreased from 455 million
pounds of active ingredient in 1992 to about 390 million pounds
in 2000." Despite this reduction, these products categorized as
"risky" still represent more than 40% of the pesticides that
producers continue to use.
In partial response to
the GAO report, a national road map for IPM was presented and
published in the Proceedings of the 4th National IPM
Symposium, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 8 to 10,
2003. Three broad national IPM goals were articulated: (1)
improve the economic benefits related to the adoption of IPM
practices, (2) reduce potential human health risks from pests
and the use of IPM practices, and (3) minimize adverse
environmental effects from pests and the use of IPM practices.
General performance measures were listed for each goal.
Will corn and soybean
producers find the very general directions of the IPM road map
useful? In reality, I realize most producers have never heard of
the map. How will it be perceived by the agribusiness sector?
Will the IPM road map influence IPM educational programs led by
scientists within our land-grant institutions? There are no easy
answers to these questions.
In 1990, W. A. Allen
and E. G. Rajotte published a paper in the Annual Review of
Entomology titled "The Changing Role of Extension Entomology
in the IPM Era." They surveyed extension entomologists who were
members of the Entomological Society of America and were active
from 1972 to 1988. More than 200 responses were received. These
extension entomologists believed that synthetic pesticides would
play a less critical role in IPM decision-making in the future
(defined as 1989 through 2000). They (71.4% of respondents) also
believed that scouting and the use of economic thresholds would
be very important throughout the 1990s. It appears that they
underestimated the future importance and continued use of
pesticides and overestimated the adoption of scouting practices
and use of thresholds in a field crop setting.
If you disagree,
ponder these questions:
What percentage of
soybeans grown in Illinois are scouted for the western corn
rootworm variant in order to make more-informed soil insecticide
decisions on first-year corn?
What percentage of
continuous corn acres in Illinois are scouted for corn rootworms
in order to make soil insecticide use decisions?
What percentage of
corn acres in Illinois will be treated with systemic
insecticidal seed treatments this spring for secondary soil
insects without any scouting input? For corn rootworms?
Will interest continue
to build for the registration and use of systemic insecticidal
seed treatments for soybeans to reduce potential bean leaf
beetle and soybean aphid infestations despite the sporadic
nature of these insect pests?
How much concern
exists regarding the potential for substantial numbers of acres
of corn and soybean to be treated in the future with
insecticidal seed treatments that have the same mode of action?
Should insecticide resistance management protocols be developed
and recommended for the nicotinioid insecticides?
If your answers to
these questions make you feel somewhat uncomfortable with
respect to the progress we've made regarding the adoption of
scouting and use of thresholds since the University of Illinois
pilot scouting program in the early 1970s, you're not alone. If
pesticide use remains at current levels on corn and soybean
acres and the adoption of scouting practices and use of economic
thresholds continue to lag, will federal support of IPM continue
to erode? As urban population centers increase in political
importance, will federal support swing in favor of those
programs that focus on alternative agriculture practices such as
organic food production? Time will tell.
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