The 2012 Lettuce Insect, Disease, and Weed Losses Workshop will be conducted Wednesday, April 11 at the Yuma Agricultural Center from Noon until 2:00 pm - lunch
will be provided. This workshop has been invaluable to our VegIPM Team because it allows us to develop accurate real world data on crop losses and
pesticide usage which is important to the assessment of our IPM programs in Arizona. Quantifiable measurements of pesticide use patterns, costs, target pests,
and yield/quality losses due to key insect, disease, and weeds are our most objective tools for assessing change in our systems. These data allow us to build
relevant databases for measuring user behaviors and adoption of new IPM technologies. This is information important for several reasons. First, specific data
on pesticide use patterns and pest losses can be useful for providing information to EPA and other regulatory agencies in submitting Section 18 and 24c requests,
as well as support the tolerance of older active ingredients that are critical to the lettuce industry. In addition, it can directly demonstrate the value of
new pest control technologies and IPM tactics. From an academic perspective, these databases help to re-direct the efforts of the College of Agriculture by
providing key stakeholder input to our applied research and extension programs. This real world input from the industry documents the relevancy of
key pest problems and has become mandatory for competing for federal grant funding. Finally, for PCAs, it can translate their efforts into economic terms
for their clientele and confirms their value to the lettuce industry by showing the importance of key insect pests and their cost-effective management in
desert lettuce production. So we hope you can make it to the workshop and participate in this important process (2 - AZ/CA CEUs have been requested).
Remember: When in Doubt-Scout.
To contact John Palumbo go to: jpalumbo@ag.arizona.edu
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