Project Overview
New pests are a serious risk to Tennessee nursery profitability. For example, over 50% of Tennessee growers surveyed stated that boxwood blight now threatens their business. Regulatory agencies determined that systems-based pest management reduces plant mortality and allows more flexible shipping, reducing
losses/costs. Systems-based pest management is being incorporated into national and international commerce
regulations. However, changing operational procedures to include a systems-based approach to pest management affects every aspect of production, exposing growers to considerable risk while they adjust practices. Growers/employees need training to successfully mitigate the risk associated with transitioning to a new production system that utilizes systems-based pest management. Project co-PIs and collaborators organized a workshop and conducted one on one visits with workshop participants following the workshop; created a checklist and a 48 page manual (both documents in English and in Spanish); and created 5 You Tube videos on Critical Control Points. Participants learned how to successfully implement a systems-based approach to field and container nursery pest management and reduced financial losses from adopting key steps in systems-based pest management.
Number of Participants: 56
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
There are no promotional materials available for this project.
EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
There are no educational materials available for this project.
REPORTS & EVALUATIONS
There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.