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Turfgrass IPM...
The rapidly expanding turf industry in Indiana now accounts for nearly $1 billion of the state's annual economy. Recent estimates ranked Indiana as12th nationally in total number of golf courses (>375) with a revenue of >$500 million. Home lawn care services and do-it-yourself homeowners generate a revenue of approximately $125 million annually. However, in spite of the size of the turf industry, turf management programs currently used are and have long been based almost entirely on the use of chemicals. Increasing costs of insecticides, decreasing efficacy and more importantly, rising public anxiety about the safety of chemicals applied on turfgrass are becoming of major concern to turfgrass pest managers. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been an important and successful strategy for relieving similar frustrations in many agricultural situations but little information exists concerning the practical application of this technology as well as the economics of its implementation in the urban turfgrass environment.
Support...
Through support provided by the Midwest Regional Turfgrass Foundation, Purdue University Turfgrass program and from various grants and financial support from the turfgrass industry, I have been able to support students and fund research projects related to insect management in turfgrass. The personnel affiliated with turfgrass management at Purdue University are top-notch. We have an interdepartmental group that is amazingly synergistic and extremely productive. Goals... My goals are to develop IPM strategies to create a more cost effective and environmentally safe turfgrass insect pest control program in Indiana. It is evident that more practical research and training is needed to support this industry. Specifically, my goals in turfgrass pest management research and extension are to improve currently used control strategies and evaluate new IPM tactics for insect pests in Indiana turfgrass. My current focus is largely dealing with the biology and control of the annual white grub complex in Indiana. My goal is to determine its' economic injury threshold in an effort to maximize control with reduced pesticides. To accomplish this we have ongoing research which is aimed at improving the timing of white grub applications through black light trapping to determine species and phenology of the pests. We are also currently evaluating several alternative controls where available. In another phase of our research we are assessing the impact of current insect control regimes on the naturally occurring arthropod predator fauna. Some of my most visible research/extension projects are:
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