July 24, 2008

Texas AgriLife IPM Professionals Receive National Recognition

(from left to right) Dr. Tom Fuchs, Bill Ree, Dr. Marvin Harris and Dr. John Jackman with awards received at the annual Texas Pecan Growers Association meeting.

The Texas AgriLife Extension's Integrated Pest Management program and AgriLife Research were recognized with three awards during the recent meeting of the Texas Pecan Growers Association.

The awards were handed out during the 87th annual meeting held at the Woodlands on July 13-16.

All were honored by their peers for their educational efforts in integrated pest management in the southern U.S., according to Dr. Tom Fuchs, AgriLife Extension integrated pest management leader for Texas. Fuchs participated in the conference and accepted the award on behalf of AgriLife Extension for Outstanding State IPM Program.

“I was very proud to be able to represent our AgriLife Extension team in accepting the Outstanding State IPM Program Award,” Fuchs said. “This is the first time this award has been presented, so it is indeed an honor.”

In addition to the Outstanding State IPM Program award, the Southern Region IPM Center presented the IPM Teacher Award to Dr. Marvin Harris and Bill Ree for their work in pecan integrated pest management. Harris is an entomology professor in the Department, and Ree is an AgriLife Extension program specialist located in Bryan.

“Through their IPM teaching efforts which emphasize the wise use of pesticides only when necessary, Texas pecan growers have realized a 35 percent reduction in insecticide use and a 30 percent reduction in fungicide use, resulting in an estimated $4.4 million annual cost savings compared to levels used in the early 1980s,” Fuchs said. “This is a major accomplishment, not only economically, but also environmentally.” 

Dr. Jackman received the inaugural Friends of IPM Lifetime Achievement Award, which is handed out by the group for years of significant contributions to integrated pest management work in the Southern region.

Jackman received the award for his pioneering efforts in using computers for providing educational materials and predicting insect outbreak problems, and for later using the Web to expand his and others' educational programming.

The Texas IPM Program is operated as a private/public partnership involving the Texas A&M System and its agencies and the Texas Pest Management Association, which is made largely of growers. The IPM program operates 28 units across the state.

Of the 28 units, 23 units address agricultural crops, four deal primarily with urban issues and one coordinates the IPM in Schools program.