Final report for ES20-155
Project Information
To increase the adoption of sustainable pest management and production practices in fresh-market vegetable production, Extension personnel must be properly educated and have access to resources to train growers. The goal of this project is to develop sustainable pest-management and irrigation resources for University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (UACES) county agents to utilize. Principle investigators (PIs) will use a “train the trainer” model to educate UACES agents and mentor growers on sustainable practices, like insect pest monitoring systems and efficient irrigation management. Hands-on training along with developed resurces will support UACES agents to assist both conventional and organic growers to implement successful integrated pest management (IPM) and irrigation programs in fresh-market vegetable production in Arkansas. Developed training materials consisted of 5 demonstration videos, 3 factsheets, and a vegetable production and IPM webpage. Techniques showcased in these resources were taught at 4 trainings for 58 UACES agents in the three major regions of Arkansas. Over 88% of attendees reported that trainings improved their knowledge of insect scouting and irrigation monitoring in vegetables. In pre-tests over 50% of agents surveyed indicated they were not confident in recommending insect monitoring techniques, while over 89% of those that attended trainings reported they were confident in recommending these techniques. 72% of agents that attended these trainings indicated that they felt confident in recommending sustainable production and irrigation monitoring techniques. We were able to supply agents with 15 insect traps funded through this project and 17 unique locations (15 farms) are now involved in trapping major insect pests of many vegetable crops. All mentor grower farms from 2022 are trapping in 2023 and utilizing irrigation monitoring systems.
- Develop materials to train UACES agents and 3-4 Arkansas mentor growers to use and recommend pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring methodologies to improve the sustainability of production and pest management programs in small-scale organic and conventional vegetable operations across the state and the Southeast.
- At the end of the two year project a minimum of 45 UACES agents trained in workshops will be able to answer basic questions on sustainable vegetable production, with 80% proficiency, including: trap selection and placement in vegetable production, which pests in tomatoes and cucurbits need to be monitored to reduce pesticide use, how to install and manage basic irrigation management tools and how efficient water management affects crop production and IPM.
- Agent knowledge of sustainable vegetable production will be improved 50% and result in agent participants planning to increase the number of times insect monitoring for pest management and irrigation monitoring sensors are recommended to fresh-market vegetable growers.
- The 3-4 mentor growers who are trained to successfully implement pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring programs will be highlighted for their successes through 3 recorded video interviews in order to reach a minimum of 1,000 extension agents and growers across the South.
- Information about insect and irrigation monitoring practices will be made more available to Southeast extension agents and growers via online sources. A webpage will be created that will act as a centralized source of training materials, five demonstration videos, and monitoring maps and data, which will facilitate agent access to sustainable vegetable recommendations. These training materials will also be shared with other regional extension services and SSARE to facilitate adoption across the Southeast and reach a minimum of 1,000 people in the region by the end of the second year.
Research has shown that a systems approach to vegetable production that relies on monitoring of pest presence and optimizing growing conditions is necessary to achieve sustainable vegetable production and successfully implement IPM practices. Current vegetable pest management practices in Arkansas maximize time efficiency and ease of production by relying on scheduled spray programs rather than using sustainable techniques such as pest monitoring that can minimize economic and ecological impact. Although weekly or bi-weekly fungicide spray programs are necessary in many crops to prevent diseases, many insecticide spray programs target insects before they are present in the landscape. For example, research on squash vine borer in cucurbits indicates that only 1–3 insecticide applications may be necessary when applications are based on scouting for female emergence and pheromone traps targeting second generation male emergence, while currently 5–7 applications may be necessary using a calendar spray program (Middleton 2018). Additionally, using monitoring-based thresholds allowed for targeted applications and a greater selection of both conventional and organic insecticides and more selective and “soft” insecticides (Middleton 2018). This is extremely important when considering the impact that excess broad-spectrum insecticides have on natural enemies and biocontrol, and how that can lead to outbreaks of secondary pests such as aphids that vector viruses and are resistant to many of these pesticides (Ghidui 1994).
Growers often struggle with the timing of basic cultural production practices like drip irrigation, which is a key component of successful integrated pest management (IPM) systems due to its impact on plant stress (Buitenhuis 2014). Grower’s knowledge of how soil texture, drip tape flow rates, crop phenology and how climatic conditions impact crop water needs is often limited. Growers instead often rely on calendar scheduling, or physical symptoms of drought to determine irrigation schedules. Calendar irrigation scheduling may result in over or under watering that may lead to soil borne disease, delayed crop development, restricted nutrient uptake, reduced yields and increased pest pressure. Simple tools like soil moisture sensors and flow meters can help growers to better understand how water is moving through the soil into the rooting zone, how long it stays there, when deficit or excess soil moisture is present for the crop and the amount of water required to maintain adequate soil moisture for crop development. These technologies are often under-utilized in both organic and conventional small scale vegetable production and county agricultural agents may have limited knowledge or ability to make recommendations regarding their implementation. This is despite understanding of how appropriate drip irrigation practices are key to optimizing sustainable vegetable crop production (Lamont et al, 2012). Efficient water use has been identified as an important factor for sustainable crop production (Shock et al, 2013), particularly for growers who rely on city water which can be costly. Further plant stress resulting from poor irrigation management directly impacts plant health and ultimately a crops ability to fend off pests (Buitenhuis, 2014). There is a lack of short guides and training material for agents on the basics of irrigation management for small scale vegetable production. Thus our integrated approach of combining simple tools to monitor irrigation and insect pests as means to improve the efficiency and sustainability of vegetable crop production in the Southeast.
The need for these types of tools and training have been identified by the principal investigators (PIs) during field visits to fresh-market growers across Arkansas. Growers have universally expressed interest in insect and production monitoring tools to enhance their ability to efficiently and sustainably manage their vegetable production. This is particularly true of organic growers who have a limited toolbox of OMRI-approved pesticides available to them. Further, the increase in growers in semi-urban areas who rely on city water for irrigation, are very aware of the costs associated with their water use. Currently there is a lack of training material pertaining to sustainable vegetable pest management that agents can use to train fresh-market vegetable growers on successful IPM tactics such as insect pest monitoring. Drip irrigation management and monitoring for vegetable production is similarly a topic that agents with row crop or livestock backgrounds often have little experience with. This is especially concerning considering that agents generally have a wide range of responsibilities and too little time to create presentations and training material about topics they don’t have first-hand experience with. Considering the lack of available training material for agents and the interest by fresh-market growers, development of a standardized short-course type training on pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring methodologies will be immensely valuable to the adoption of these sustainable pest management techniques.
The goal of this project is to develop sustainable pest and irrigation management curricula for University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (UACES) county agents to utilize. PIs will use a “train the trainer” model to educate UACES agents and mentor growers in insect pest monitoring systems to target pesticide applications and a sustainable cultural production practice, efficient irrigation management, which along with the developed resources, will support both conventional and organic growers to implement successful IPM programs. These resources will be tested and evaluated with UACES agents and 3-4 mentor growers, who will then deliver effective trainings to growers and thereby increase adoption of these practices in the state. This established suite of resources will also be widely applicable and available across the Southeastern region where it can easily implemented into other extension agent programs.
Cooperators
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Education
The goal of this project was to use a “train the trainer” model to educate UACES agents and mentor growers in insect pest monitoring systems to target pesticide applications and a sustainable cultural production practice, efficient irrigation management. In addition, training materials including fact sheets and How-To videos were developed to aid agents in their ability to understand and help implement sustainable production techniques. This training model along with developed training materials supported both conventional and organic growers to implement successful IPM programs.
Demonstration plots were established at three grower collaborator sites across Arkansas in 2022. These on-farm demonstrations were the basis of 3 in-person county agent trainings in the summer of 2022. These trainings helped to further mold training materials designed for county agents across the MidSouth. Education materials and these demonstrations were developed based on an informal focus group with agents in the fall of 2020, a Qualtrics survey in early 2021, and a agent-training at our 2021 preliminary demonstration held at the Southwest Research Station in Hope, AR.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Determine the needs of county agents and their education level regarding sustainable production and pest management techniques.
An informal zoom meeting (due to covid-19 restrictions) was held with influential UACES county agents (15) to determine the current education level and needs of county agents. We asked agents about their current understanding of sustainable production and pest management techniques, as well as their opinion on the educational level of the growers they work with. The goal of this meeting was to get agents involved in our project and to use initial results to develop a broader survey for growers and agents.
First, we wanted agents to feel like this project was created for their benefit, so the first logical step was to get them directly involved with developing survey and educational materials. We then determined from this meeting their educational needs and their observations about the educational needs of growers within their counties. This insight was extremely useful for program planning.
From this meeting we were able to develop a survey for fresh market vegetable growers in Arkansas, and the agents that supported them. We used the information we learned from this meeting to directly shape that survey, and to start working on educational materials for future meetings, along with plans for demonstration plots. We also learned that interview videos weren't a form of media that agents were interested in, and instead spent more time trying to bolster our insect trapping network and focused more on demonstrations including adding an additonal demonstration and in-service training in 2021.
Determine the educational needs of Arkansas fresh market vegetable growers and the extension agents that support them.
We invited growers and agents to participate in a survey that was designed to help guide our educational and research initiatives. This survey determine the sustainability of current production and pest management programs by assessing what tactics were currently being used and by querying the current understanding of more sustainable tactics. Additionally, we were able to gauge interest into more sustainable tactics that had already been researched, but not yet implemented on a large scale.
This survey offered support to growers (55 participated) and agents (44 participated) in multiple facets. First, agents were able to obtain a baseline understanding of the amount of fresh market vegetable growers in their counties, understand their current production and pest management tactics, and have their voice heard regarding future university of Arkansas trainings. Next, growers were able to be involved with the future of trainings in the state, and were introduced to the idea of a number of sustainable practices that they may not have considered before. Last, University of Arkansas researchers were able to receive a snapshot of current production and education, along with willingness to implement many sustainable tactics in the future. These data will be instrumental into designing both demonstrations and education materials, as the we now have a much better understanding of what the current practices and education levels are.
Establish tomato and vegetable plots for County Agents to utilize that showcase our planned on-farm demonstrations.
Tomato and Squash plots were established at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope, AR that utilized sustainable irrigation and insect management tactics. These plots were established to help train agents, including those that would be working with mentor growers in 2022, to recommend sustainable tactics to growers in their counties. A training was held on 7/8/2021 where 15 University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Agents (UACES) were in attendance. These agents were able to see first hand sustainable irrigation and insect management tactics in tomato and squash plantings.
Establishing preliminary demonstration plots on a University of Arkansas experiment station was a great opportunity to not only showcase sustainable tactics and help build data, but also to help sell agents on these tactics. We felt this was a logical step in ensuring that agents could fully understand these tactics and be comfortable with hosting their own demonstrations and utilizing the insect and irrigation monitoring we would have available for them in 2022.
Agents were taught how to establish and check insect traps, as well as how to transition from trap-catch data to in-field scouting and insect identification as a decision-making tool for potential insecticide applications. Additionally, sustainable irrigation monitoring techniques were showcased and agents were trained on how to use and place tensiometers and flow meters with drip irrigation. Agents were also able to see plots with varying degrees of irrigation and the impact it has on plant success.
Establish demonstrations showcasing pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring best management practices on mentor grower farms with county agent participation.
Demonstrations showcasing pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring methodologies were established at three mentor grower farms in coordination with their respective county agents. Demonstrations at each location included insect traps designed to monitor squash vine borer and tomato fruitworm, which were used in conjunction with field scouting to monitor key pests of major vegetable crops grown on these farms. Additionally, soil-moisture sensors were installed in both squash and tomato and were used by growers and agents to make irrigation decisions through the growing season.
The goal of these demonstrations were to improve the sustainability of production and pest management programs in vegetable operations across the state and the MidSouth/Southeast. Demonstrations were established on three locations that spanned unique growing regions in Arkansas, as well as different farm types.
The first demonstration was established in South Arkansas at Hamilton farms south of Warren, AR. The Hamilton’s grow around 20 acres of vegetables (tomatoes, squash, melons) which they mainly sell to peddlars who supply roadside stands, small markets, etc. A training at this location would include opportunities for agents to gain experience implementing sustainable techniques in vegetable production at a larger scale.
The second demonstration was established in Central Arkansas at Barnhill Orchards between Lonoke and Cabot, AR. The Barnhill’s have a very diversified operation and grow several fruit and vegetable crops. Their produce ends up in restaurants and stores across central Arkansas and they also have a very successful farm store. A training at this location would provide an opportunity for agents to gain experience implementing sustainable techniques in highly diversified vegetable operations.
The third demonstration was established in Northwest Arkansas at McGarrah Farms. The McGarrah’s sell a variety of fruit and vegetable crops and utilize the agritourism experience to maximize profits and help reduce picking costs on many crops. They have multiple farms around the Northwest metro and have been very successful selling to farmers markets, vegetable consortiums, local stores, and directly on farm via pre-picked or U-pick systems. A training at this location would provide an opportunity for agents to gain experience implementing sustainable techniques in a highly diversified specialty crop operation that utilizes the agritourism experience.
Mentor growers and county agents gained vital experience using sustainable vegetable production techniques. Growers and agents were able to see first hand the value of pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring methodologies on their farms, which increased their confidence in these techniques and all have continued to use these on their farms in 2023.
Host county agent trainings at mentor grower demonstration sites to showcase pheromone-based insect and irrigation monitoring best management practices.
Three trainings were held in the summer of 2022 where 43 University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Agents (UACES) were in attendance. UACES agents were able to see first hand sustainable irrigation and insect management tactics in tomato and squash plantings. Agents were taught how to establish and check insect traps, how to transition from trap-catch data to in-field scouting and insect identification as decision-making tool for potential insecticide applications. Additionally, sustainable irrigation monitoring techniques were showcased and agents were trained on how to use and place tensiometers and flow meters with drip irrigation. These trainings were led by PI's but mentor growers and their county agents were able to give testimonies and showcase each of the sustainable techniques on display.
The first training was held in South Arkansas at Hamilton farms south of Warren on May 25, 2022 with fifteen UACES agents in attendance. The second training was held in Central Arkansas at Barnhill Orchards between Lonoke and Cabot on June 23, 2022 and 20 UACES agents were in attendance. The third training was held in Northwest Arkansas at McGarrah Farms on June 27 2022 with 8 UACES agents in attendance.
These three demonstrations were a great opportunity to not only showcase sustainable tactics and help build data, but also to help sell agents on these tactics. At each of these locations mentor growers and agents became confident in using the showcased sustainable techniques and were able to help lead the on-farm agent trainings. Hearing from experienced agents and mentor farmers helped to build confidence in the attending agents in the viability of showcased techniques and their potential viability on other farms. Over 88% of attendees reported that trainings improved their knowledge of insect scouting and irrigation monitoring in vegetable crops. Over 89% and 72% of agents felt confident in recommending irrigation and insect monitoring techniques respectively after attending these trainings.
Develop a webpage that agents and growers can use to monitor insect pest populations and to host resources for sustainable production techniques such as irrigation monitoring.
We developed a vegetable pest and production management webpage for growers to use to track insect pest populations and to access other training materials. This webpage utilizes a pest monitoring map built on county agent trapping data to warn growers and agents alike about pertinent pest issues, as well as growing degree day model information for important pests such as squash vine borer. Information about relevant fruit and vegetable pests are easily accessible by webpage visitors, along with fact sheets and How-To videos developed for this project.
Resources developed for this webpage include:
3 Fact sheets
FSA7090: Using Pheromone Traps to Monitor Pests in Tomatoes and Cucurbits, FSA7091: Managing Squash Vine Borer in Arkansas, and FSA6160: Basics of Drip Irrigation and Fertigation for Specialty Crops.
5 How-To Vidoes:
How-To Construct Watermark Sensors for Plasticulture Beds, How-To Install Watermark Sensors for Plasticulture Beds, How-To Build a Venturi Injector, How-to IPM: Using Pheromone Traps in Tomato and Squash, and How-to IPM: Tomato Pests.
Through this projects funding and the insect monitoring webpage we were able to establish a state-wide trapping program that warns growers and agents of impending pest issues and helps to get more growers involved in the idea of scouting for insects before pesticides are used. Our initial goal was to base these traps at mentor-grower locations and experiment stations. We were able to give out over 15 traps funded through this project and 17 unique locations (15 farms) are now involved in trapping. All mentor grower farms from 2022 are trapping in 2023 and utilizing irrigation monitoring systems. Additionally, agents involved with demonstrations were able to showcase these traps and many nearby farms are now utilizing the traps provided through this project after seeing their value. We also expanded the scope of this page to include fruit pests such as spotted-wing drosophila, plum curculio, and peachtree borers.
Development of this webpage is important because currently there is no readily available trapping data for specialty crop growers in the MidSouth growing region.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
The goal of this project was to increase the use of sustainable production techniques such as irrigation and insect monitoring in vegetable production in Arkansas. We surveyed agents and growers to determine what specific needs existed and determined that the largest hurtle to implementation of these techniques lied in the ability of mentor growers and county agents to understand and teach these tactics. Demonstrations were established on 1 research station and 3 mentor grower farms where a total of 58 agents were trained in sustainable irrigation and insect monitoring techniques. Agents were surveyed prior to trainings and again after attending these in-person events.
88% and 89% of attendees reported that trainings improved their knowledge of insect scouting and irrigation monitoring of vegetables respectively. In pre-tests over 50% of agents surveyed indicated they were not confident in recommending insect monitoring techniques, while over 89% of those that attended trainings reported they were confident in recommending these techniques. 72% of agents that attended these trainings indicated that they felt confident in recommending sustainable production and irrigation monitoring techniques.
Another indication from our initial survey and round-table discussion was that agents did not have the training materials necessary to successfully recommend or implement sustainable production techniques in vegetables. To assess these needs we first developed a vegetable pest and production management webpage for growers to use to track insect pest populations and to access other training materials. This webpage utilizes a pest monitoring map built on county agent trapping data to warn growers and agents alike about pertinent pest issues, as well as growing degree day model information for important pests such as squash vine borer. Information about relevant fruit and vegetable pests are easily accessible by webpage visitors, along with fact sheets and youtube videos developed for this project.
Next, 3 fact sheets were developed for county agents to use to train growers in these techniques: FSA7090: Using Pheromone Traps to Monitor Pests in Tomatoes and Cucurbits, FSA7091: Managing Squash Vine Borer in Arkansas, and FSA6160: Basics of Drip Irrigation and Fertigation for Specialty Crops. These fact sheets have all been submitted for publication and will be available by agents by the end of May 2023. In addition, 5 YouTube videos were developed for agents and growers to use to increase implementation of these sustainable techniques: How-To Construct Watermark Sensors for Plasticulture Beds, How-To Install Watermark Sensors for Plasticulture Beds, How-To Build a Venturi Injector, How-to IPM: Using Pheromone Traps in Tomato and Squash, and How-to IPM: Tomato Pests. These videos have already amassed over 8,000 views.
This project's funding provided allowed us to develop an insect monitoring webpage and establish a state-wide trapping program that warns growers and agents of impending pest issues. This webpage helps to get more growers involved in the idea of scouting for insects before pesticides are used. Our initial goal was to base these traps at mentor-grower locations and experiment stations. We were able to give out over 15 traps funded through this project and 17 unique locations (15 farms) are now involved in trapping. All mentor grower farms from 2022 are trapping in 2023 and utilizing irrigation monitoring systems. We believe the increased use of these tools into 2023 is an indication of the projects success.
Information Products
- FSA7090: Using Pheromone Traps to Monitor Pests in Tomatoes and Cucurbits (Fact Sheet)
- FSA7091: Managing Squash Vine Borer in Arkansas (Fact Sheet)
- Horticulture IPM Webpage (Website)
- How-To Build Watermark Sensors for Plasticulture Beds (Multimedia)
- How-To Install Watermark Sensors for Plasticulture Beds (Multimedia)
- How-To Build A Venturi Injector (Multimedia)
- How-to IPM: Using Pheromone Traps in Tomato and Squash (Multimedia)
- How-to IPM: Tomato Pests (Multimedia)
- FSA6160: Basics of Drip Irrigation and Fertigation for Specialty Crops. (Fact Sheet)