Integrated Pest Management

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Eight trailblazers in integrated pest management (IPM) work were honored in January with "Excellence in IPM" awards by the New York State Legislature, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and Cornell University in ceremonies in Albany.

"We believe that the most workable innovations in pest management require a team effort that includes producers, agricultural scientists, extension educators and agribusiness," said James P. Tette, director of New York's IPM program at Cornell. "The statewide IPM program commends the groups and individuals being honored this year for the skill, inspiration and courage they have shown in pursuing new systems of pest management, and applauds their efforts to share their experiences with others."

Integrated Pest Management is an approach to managing agricultural and horticultural pests that combines biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks. New York is a leader in the development of IPM.

This year's honorees are:

• Charles (Chuck) Blood, dairy farmer, Hubbardsville, N.Y., one of the founding members and first chairman of the Central New York Crop Management Association, a farmer/grower group that was organized to provide IPM and integrated crop management services to producer members. -- Comstock Michigan Fruit, a fruit and vegetable processing company, Rochester, N.Y., which evaluated IPM methods for processing sweet corn five years ago and adopted these methods for its operation, while setting new industry standards.
• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland County, recognized as an extension team led by Paul Trader, the current association director. He has been instrumental in conducting educational IPM programs for landscape and ornamental audiences in the lower Hudson Valley. -- John Deibel, a private crop consultant, West Falls, N.Y., helped to pioneer the application of IPM methods to dairy and field crops in the early years of the IPM program in his role as a Cooperative Extension agent. He was instrumental in forming the Western New York Crop Management Association, a private producer organization that provides crop and pest management services to its 130 members.
• Jim Misiti, private crop consultant, Lyndonville, N.Y., may be one the earliest adopters and developers of IPM strategies. In 1970, he enrolled in IPM training courses and interned in the apple IPM program, working as a scout for tree fruit in Western New York.
• MY-T Acres Inc., a vegetable farm in Batavia, N.Y., is primarily operated by Peter, Phil and Nate Call. They have been one of the most consistent adopters of IPM practices and have cooperated in the development of many vegetable IPM strategies, including those for sweet corn, snap beans and cabbage.
• Harvey Reissig of Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station entomology department in Geneva, N.Y., who has helped guide the statewide IPM program by serving on the IPM Operating Committee. That committee is responsible for establishing policy and setting future directions for the New York State IPM Program. He also serves as the chair of the IPM Fruit Committee, which develops the priorities for research and extension work in fruit crops. -- George Zerrillo, owner of Zerrillo Greenhouses, East Syracuse, N.Y., has been committed to the development of IPM methods for nearly eight years. He has allowed IPM scientists and extension staff to test, evaluate and demonstrate new pest management methods in his greenhouses, sometimes at some risk to his crops. He has been innovative in evaluating biological control techniques and has adopted many IPM methods.