USA
November 16, 2015

It is not often that attempts are made to unify groups and individuals around a controversial topic, yet that is the goal of a professional development program being offered by the University of Massachusetts. Resistance management has long been a focus of integrated pest management or IPM and now a new series of webinars will attempt bring educators to a common level of knowledge for unifying programs aimed at helping constituents growing fruits and vegetables.

The four part webinar series will include experts discussing general resistance management and specific topics related to fungicide, insecticide, and herbicide resistance using an IPM approach. It is expected that the series will result in increased understanding of pesticide and resistance modes of action, allow participants to better educate growers about resistance management, and promote the use of IPM as a consistent and comprehensive approach to slow the development of pesticide resistance, improve pesticide efficacy and longevity, environmental stewardship, and farm sustainability.

“This has been a topic that Extension professionals have asked for training on and we’re trying to provide that,” says Hilary Sandler, University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station researcher and project leader. In a recent survey, over 90% of respondents from the Extension field were concerned about resistance management issues, yet less than half felt they were well-prepared to teach about it. “We want to change this,” says Sandler, “and one of the best ways is to bring in experts to share the IPM science that is best for addressing resistance issues.”

The upcoming webinars are scheduled to begin on November 30 and will continue through December. The entire webinar series is free and open to Extension specialists, as well as growers, farmers, and anyone working in vegetable and fruit production in the Northeast or across the country. All of the details including registration information can be found at the University of Massachusetts website: http://www.umass.edu/cranberry/newsevents/RM_webinars.html or by contacting Hilary Sandler (hsandler@umass.edu or 508-295-2212 x21).

Website: http://www.cornell.edu

Published: November 16, 2015