2004 Program Accomplishments
In July 2004, the USDA funded the creation of Tennessee's Pest Management Information Network. With funding, the Newtwork was able to establish and respond quickly to information needs in both the public and private sectors. Information provided by Tennessee's network will help USDA and its partner institutions identify, prioritize, and coordinate a national pest management research, extension, and education program to be implemented on a regional basis. Tennessee's most basic function was to develop and maintain a state pest management information network that will contribute to environmentally and economically sound pest management decisions. The network serves two major purposes: to facilitate communication among key groups of people, and to provide these groups with broad access to pest management information. Tennessee’s Pest Management Information Network will continue to assist the Southern Region in its efforts to conduct these functions. Several crop pest profiles were completed during 2004. These include: strawberries, alfalfa and pepper production. A field corn crop pest profile is currently being reviewed and should be available soon.
Tennessee has assisted the SRIPMC by connecting a diverse array of people who have an interest in pest management policy and implementation throughout the US. These include pest management users (farmers, nurserymen, park and turf managers, building superintendents, pest control operators, homeowners, gardeners, and others), consumer and environmental groups, governmental regulatory agencies, researchers, and educators. Communications channels will be effective only if all parties can consistently access the same reliable information. Research-based information is essential to our ability to make sound pest management decisions in any context, from a backyard garden to national regulatory offices. Tennessee is working with the support of PMCs and USDA, by contributing to building a comprehensive database that eventually will hold all kinds of scientifically tested pest management information. This database will be available on the World Wide Web for use by everyone.
Funding for the national network of Pest Management Centers was authorized by Section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998.
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