September 30, 2024

Pest Management Solutions for Specialty Crops and Specialty Uses

The following is a recap of news and updates released by

The IR-4 Project during the month of September.

LATEST NEWS

New Success Story: Hawaii's Cacao Industry Unites Around Goal to Become the "Napa Valley of Chocolate"

IR-4 is supporting efforts to turn Hawaii into a world-recognized center for

high-quality chocolate research and education—and the best-tasting chocolate.

Hawaii is uniquely positioned for success in this effort due to its range of growing regions in a compact area, its robust tourism industry, strong support from university research institutions, and its hyper-local food system.

Learn more in our latest success story by Robin Siktberg.

10/1 Final Day to Submit a Priority Upgrade Proposal

Priority Upgrade Proposals and regional upgrades must be made by 11:59 p.m. PT on October 1. The PUP form can be found on IR-4's Stakeholder Resources page under "Databases and Resources by Program." The new PUP video can also be found on this page under "Video Tutorials." Regional upgrades are made by Regional Field Coordinators and do not require a form.

PUP Video Tutorial

In case you missed it, IR-4 Headquarters recently released a video tutorial guiding users through the Priority Upgrade Proposal (or "PUP") process. Watch it here (or find it linked on theStakeholder Resources page, along with the PUP form).

Final FUW Prioritization Lists Posted

Final prioritization lists have now been posted from the 2024 Food Use Workshop. Find all lists along with welcome presentations, daily recordings and other event materials on the event web page.

We applaud our stakeholders for coming together last week to discuss and refine a long list of project requests down to a fundable number of priorities. This takes considerable collaboration and compromise. Thanks to our sponsors and participants, our Food Crop Program is poised for another impactful year of research supporting the pest management needs of specialty crop producers across the country. This is an achievement worth celebrating!

Thanks for a Fruitful Workshop

Thank you, Food Use Workshop attendees! Whether you joined us in person or virtually last week, your contributions were meaningful. We look forward to another year of research generating pest management solutions for specialty crop growers across the country. IR-4's impacts depend on our stakeholders' input, expertise and collaboration—thank you for coming together once again in support of our mission!

Along with putting in the hard work to determine our 2025 research priorities, we had a delightful time gathering in Milwaukee. Cheers to a job well done and time well spent.

Thank You, 2024 Event Sponsors!

Sponsors make events like the Food Use Workshop possible and help IR-4 deliver on its grower-focused mission. Are you interested in sponsoring IR-4’s 2024 events? Please reach out to ir-4_project@ncsu.edu for more information.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Weed Science Opportunity at Michigan State University

Join IR-4's North Central Region as an Assistant Professor focused on weed science at Michigan State University:

The Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University invites applications for a full-time 12-month tenure-system Assistant Professor position (with a 50% Research, 40% Extension, and 10% Teaching assignment) to lead an internationally recognized, innovative and competitively funded research and extension program in weed science and ecology to support Michigan’s fruit and vegetable industries.  The position start date is anticipated to be August 16, 2025. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing a collaborative research and extension program focused on weed science, management and agroecology. 

Learn more and apply through the MSU job posting.

RESEARCH UPDATES

Food Crops

The following tolerance successes were added to the IR-4 website in June. Find other tolerance successes under Food Crop Successes & Stories.

• Indoxacarb (Federal Register date: August 8, 2024)
• Ethaboxam (Federal Register date: August 23, 2024)

Environmental Horticulture

Ready for fall foliage? Read up on birch trees—their characteristics and pest issues, as well as IR-4's research on them—in the Environmental Horticulture Program's 2023 birch crop vignette.

— Stay tuned for more in October —

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This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2022-79111-38469 with substantial cooperation and support from the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, USDA-ARS and USDA-FAS. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.