The Mission of Oregon IPM Center
Oregon IPM Center is a catalyst for discovery and new thinking relating to sustainable agriculture and integrated pest management. We develop research and education partnerships in subjects that include agro-ecology, adaptation to climate change, pesticide risk management, and outcome-based, participatory education. We promote informed dialogue among scientists, farming groups, regulatory agencies and policy makers to enhance global capacity to meet pressing problems in food security.
Our Impact
From projects that bring improved ecological function and human health by identifying pesticide risks to online tools and analyses that give agricultural professionals and policymakers data to make informed decisions, the Oregon IPM Center is making an impact at every level. Below are just a few ways that the Oregon IPM Center is advancing its mission. A complete list is found in our projects index.
Socio-Political
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Pacific Northwest Pest Management Strategic Plans were created that recommend policy, research and educational priorities to the Pacific Northwest university community, USDA & USEPA.
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Pesticide usage information and feedback on various products is regularly communicated to USDA/EPA through the public comment process, keeping stakeholders aware of regulatory actions and encouraging stakeholder involvement in the regulatory process.
Ecological Function
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Since trap mapping was introduced online in Walla Walla, first-generation codling moth populations have fallen, and overall insecticide use has decreased by more than 80% with a transition to lower-risk products.
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A regional conservation biological control workgroup developed a needs assessment for Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho that is being used to guide targeted education programs throughout these different eco-regions, and also providing justification for a portfolio of grants.
Decision Support
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Modeling tools such as the Online Phenology and Degree-Day tool at USPest.org was developed to aid growers and pesticide applicators to accurately time pesticide applications to more effectively target vulnerable life stages of pests and diseases.
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An online, searchable database, developed from the IPM Strategic Plans, aides researchers and policymakers in identifying areas of focus to support the urgent needs of growers in the Pacific Northwest.
Human Health and Well-Being
- A pilot pesticide risk communication program in West Africa resulted in reduced human health risks for all the farming families that participated. This is now being scaled up to several hundred farmers. Twenty-five facilitators were trained in 2015.
- The Food Alliance and SAN standards have reached over 1 million farmers in 50 countries, and they will benefit from reductions in the use of hazardous pesticides, while being recognized in the marketplace for use of IPM practices that are less reliant upon inputs.
Core Initiatives
Oregon IPM Center is responsible for our core initiatives. These projects are overseen and produced by Oregon IPM Center staff.
Affiliated & Partner Programs
Oregon IPM Center also collaborates with IPM-related groups and projects at Oregon State University and nationwide.
Our History
Oregon IPM Center, formerly the Integrated Plant Protection Center or IPPC, was formed in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University in 1967, and has been conducting research and outreach in state, national and international settings ever since. Oregon IPM Center is part of the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University. The Integrated Plant Protection Center was officially renamed Oregon IPM Center in January 2020.
Oregon IPM Center provides a home for the State IPM Coordinator, who works with the USDA-NIFA, the federal partner of the Land Grant Universities in the USA, to implement integrated pest management (IPM) practices wherever these are needed. This program is guided by the National Roadmap for IPM, which has established goals for delivering economically sustainable pest management with reduced risks to human health and to the environment in the USA. To aide in this process, the USDA has established four regional IPM Centers, and the Oregon IPM Center works closely with the Western IPM Center based at University of California, Davis.
While the Oregon IPM Center leads and coordinates a number of multi-investigator, multi-state research and outreach programs based on IPM, it is only one element of the broader IPM program at Oregon State University.
For a more detailed history, please see this article from the Spring 2020 Oregon IPM Insider, our quarterly newsletter.
The Oregon IPM Center is funded in part by the USDA-NIFA Crop Protection and Pest Management Program Extension Implementation Program Area.