About Beltwide Pecan IPM PIPE

The Pecan ipmPIPE program was organized during 2008 and winter/spring of 2009 by scientists (S-1017) and pecan producers (Pecan ipmPIPE Producer Advisory Board with representatives from pecan producer organizations) to plan, develop and launch the initial Pecan ipmPIPE Web site in April 2009. The organization/planning phase included poster and oral presentations by pecan scientists to introduce the program to pecan growers at annual meetings across the pecan belt.

The stakeholder organizational structure that resulted from this process is documented in papers presented in producer-oriented publications (i.e., Pecan Grower--Fall Issue 2008; Pecan South--April 2009). The organization now includes an extensive (120+) Pecan ipmPIPE Producer Network that provides near real-time information from the field on pecan nut casebearer, which is the target of Phase I risk assessment to aid decision making by producers.

The Pecan Advisory Board and the producer network also provide ongoing input on how to improve the present program and what additional needs should be addressed. Feedback is also solicited from the producer community by using producer organized venues like the annual meeting of regional organizations (there is currently no belt-wide producer meeting for pecan producers).

Objective

The objective of Pecan IPM PIPE is to familiarize users with the primary nuisance and beneficial arthropods associated with pecans. The ability to identify them combined with a knowledge of their biologies will allow pest management decisions to be made in time to minimize damage.

History of PIPE

The Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (PIPE) began as a USDA-initiated Internet-based response to the discovery of soybean rust in 2005 in Louisiana. The program activated interactions and informed soybean stakeholders (producers, advisors, scientists, industry, agencies, consumers and others) of disease risk posed by this pathogen in near real time throughout soybean fields across the nation in the 2006 and subsequent years to the present. The program was expanded in 2007 to include the soybean aphid in risk assessments in the soybean pest complex, and to key pests of other commodities (legumes, cucurbits and pecan) in 2008.

People

Peer Cooperators

• Brad Lewis. - Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Science, New Mexico State University
• Phil Mulder, Ph.D. - Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University
  
• Bill Reid, Ph.D. - Department of Entomology, Kansas State University
• Mike Hall, Ph.D. - Pecan Research/Extension Station, Louisiana State University
• Randy Luttrell, - Ph.D. Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas
• Monte Nesbitt. - Auburn University
  
• Jim Dutcher, Ph.D. - Department of Entomology, University of Georgia
  
• Russ Mizell Ph.D. - University of Florida
  
• Wayne Bailey, Ph.D. - University of Missouri
• Ken Hunt, Ph.D. - University of Missouri

Associated members

• Bill Ree. - Texas AgriLife Extension
• Allen Knutson, Ph.D. - Texas AgriLife Extension, Texas AgriLife Research
  
• Alejandro Calixto, Ph.D. - Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University
  
• Leonardo Lombardini, Ph.D. - Department of Horticulture, Texas A&M University

Universities and system components

• Auburn University
• Kansas State University
• Louisiana State University
• New Mexico State University
• Oklahoma State University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas AgriLife Research
• Texas AgrilLife Extension
• University of Arkansas
• University of Florida
• University of Georgia
• University of Missouri

Producers

• Arkansas Pecan Growers Association
• Louisiana Pecan Growers Association
• Northern Nut Growers Association
• Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association
• Southeastern Pecan Growers Association
• Texas Pecan Growers Association
• Western Pecan Growers Association

Project Director

Marvin K. Harris, Ph.D. - Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University