| Cornell
is one of the few universities in the world with a unique historical
commitment to international agriculture and advanced scientific capacity
in an area that can broadly be classified as IPM. Our faculty and staff
have been engaged in developing and disseminating knowledge about IPM
worldwide for decades. However, in order to formalize our commitment and
display our collective capacity, we have created the International IPM
Program in order to bring together, focus and develop the wealth of
knowledge and intellect at Cornell and to link these to international
efforts and funding opportunities.
Although Cornell faculty and staff
focus on diverse sets of topics in IIPM, with the recent hiring of Dr.
Peter Trutmann as the coordinator of International IPM at Cornell,
priority and special funding has been provided for the following
priorities:
- Soil Health
- Pesticide Resistance Management
- Biological Control
- Distance Learning Through Electronic
and Traditional Methods
These institutional priorities will be
expanded as funding increases. Likewise, many other faculty-driven
activities will continue as before but it is hoped that the IIPM program
can foster these activities as well.
SOIL
HEALTH
Soil pests (pathogens, weeds and insects) and soil structure and
fertility are important limitations in food production in many
developing countries and Cornell has tremendous capacity to provide
research and extension solutions in these areas. Worldwide there is a
need to raise an awareness of the concept and practice of soil health
and to develop research and extension partnerships throughout the world.
PESTICIDE
RESISTANCE
Throughout the developing world pesticide resistance is one
of the most harrowing prospects for a decline in agricultural capacity.
Pathogens, weeds and insects have all shown resistance to intensively
used pesticides. As pesticides begin to fail, farmers will often
increase the does which not only exacerbates pesticide resistance
problems but also environmental and health concerns. Cornell has strong
research and extension capacity which can help farmers and educators
identify resistant organisms and devise strategies for managing such
resistance.
BIOLOGICAL
CONTROL
Cornell is a world leader in developing biological control
strategies for pest management. Cornell's existing program in Biological
Control is a synergistic collection of cross-disciplinary efforts to
control pests of food, cultivated crops and plants in natural settings
through the development and utilization of organisms and/or their
products which are antagonistic to pests. Thus, not only do we include
traditional natural enemies such as insects and various microbes, but
also other organisms such as plants which have been bred or engineered
to resist pest attack.
DISTANCE
LEARNING
CALS is an institution with a tremendous capacity to help teach the
world about IPM. Wherever one travels in developing countries one is
struck by the fundamental lack of available education tools. Distance
learning through electronic technology and printed material is
fundamental to helping our partners improve their lives. Recently CALS
has taken a tremendous step forward in developing a CD ROM-based library
system in Mann Library
which will allow partners in developing countries to access the latest
scientific information. This WWW site for Cornell IIPM will also contain
information on Cornell's capacity in IIPM areas such as faculty and
graduate student interests and expertise. The potential for distance
learning was a central theme in the recent (July 1998) workshop at
Cornell and the technology for linking courses with China and Cornell
can be utilized for a global classroom in IIPM. The world is becoming
increasingly globalized in its information capacity and Cornell and its
partners can serve a major role in bringing the world's information on
pest management to bear on local problems.
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