The purpose of the meeting will be to further consider the proposal and elect officers. Attached are: (a) a copy of the draft proposal, (b) a copy of the minutes from the Charleston meeting, and (c) a list of projected membership. Please share this information with others that may have an interest.
Note to reader: Agenda Item (a) above is copied here below. Item (b) is included under Minutes of Exchange Group Meetings and (c) is a working document included under Exchange Group Members for 2005.
(a) DRAFT REQUEST FOR NEW SERA-IEG
Management of Cotton Insects
This is a proposal for restructure and continuation of the previous SERA-IEG 23 Cotton Insects that focused on boll weevil as the major key pest of cotton. SERA-IEG 23 dealt with expanding eradication efforts across the US Cotton Belt and the impact of eradication on changing pest problems and management approaches. The project provided a needed forum for technical discussion of these issues and other associated regional shifts in cotton pest management capacity. Effective exchange of information and sharing of eradication experiences facilitated technical expansion and success of eradication efforts across the Cotton Belt.
Reports, minutes and lists of participants for SERA-IEG 23 are posted on the Southern Directors website at http://cipm.ncsu.edu/ent/Southern_Region/SAAESD/cotton.html
In addition to the historical focus on boll weevil eradication, more recent meetings included a wide range of discussions on other pest species and a consideration of expanded multi-state programming, collaborative research, in-service training, and regional publications. Much of this was done informally by various subgroups within SERA-IEG 23, but several noted cooperative efforts were directly related to the formal objectives of the former information exchange group. Extension and research entomologists in the Midsouth meet annually to review and coordinate insect control and resistance management guidelines. They have also initiated regional training programs for scouting and managing cotton insects. Regional research on bollworm and tobacco budworm, especially as related to transgenic insecticidal cotton, and needed expansion of extension and research efforts on tarnished plant bugs, stink bugs, cotton aphids, and other previous secondary pests are examples of coordinated work associated with these informal discussions. The group has a long history of involvement with insecticide resistance and insecticide resistance management issues. Cooperative efforts influenced by regional discussions have resulted in plans for regional publications, but none are officially linked to SERA-IEG 23. The USDA-ARS Southern Insect Management Laboratory at Stoneville, Mississippi provided centralized support for several of these regional activities.
This proposed information exchange group will provide a forum for candid technical discussions of evolving management issues, technologies and new arthropod pest problems facing cotton producers in the US. While many of the specific topics will be defined activities by individual land-grant universities, federal laboratories or private industry groups, no other organizational structure exists for the open public dialogue on these topics across the Southern Region. The Cotton Insect Research and Control Conference of the National Cotton Council's Beltwide Cotton Conference is a forum for presentation of papers and exchange of information, but it is not a suitable arena for more detailed evaluation and debate of issues associated with public sector extension and research efforts. Similarly, Cotton Incorporated annually supports Crop Production seminars and COTMAN advisory meetings that focus more specifically on plant or crop issues and integrate a wider scope of several scientific disciplines. This proposed project targets coordination and exchange of information from public sector institutions related specifically to cotton insects and cotton insect management.
Enhanced communication and regional cooperation should bring efficiency to limited extension and research capacity by optimizing priorities for needed local issues and utilizing the broader base of information generated across the region. Increased regional research and education should expand the total breadth of science on cotton insect management resulting in more sophisticated and efficient cotton pest management approaches. The ultimate benefactor of this cooperative activity is the U.S. cotton grower. Since cotton insect pest management involves a wide sector of private and public support groups, including agricultural industry firms, private consultants, custom applicators, distributors and marketing firms, this proposed information exchange group impacts many stakeholders. A more recent and potentially more involved stakeholder will be regulatory agencies faced with various technical issues related to cotton insects. Recent examples would include policy decisions on Bt resistance and associated mandates for structured crop refuges, and documenting the need to maintain federal labels of specific insecticides important to cotton insect control.
1. Provide an annual forum for public sector discussion, debate and consideration of contemporary issues impacting cotton insect management. Major issues and outcomes of the dialogue will be captured in detailed minutes of each meeting to be posted on the Southern Directors web page (http://cipm.ncsu.edu/ent/Southern_Region/SAAESD/cotton.html). Topics that will be routinely discussed include approaches to resistance management, costs and impacts of boll weevil containment, and philosophies of insect management approaches, especially recommended scouting procedures and treatment thresholds for an evolving pest complex.
2. Stimulate continued regional cooperation in the planning and organization of extension and research programs for specific cotton insects. Management problems and pest species of interest may vary from time to time, but issues of contemporary importance include: (a) a range of hemipteran pests that have been elevated in pest status following boll weevil eradication and introduction of transgenic Bt cottons, (b) current status of insecticide resistance in populations of noctuids and mirids, and (c) emerging new pest problems such as coreids, pentatomids, and various new lepidopteran species. These discussions will provide necessary technical linkages among public sector entomologists for creative program development, sharing of technical information and resources, and timely implementation of coordinated educational and research initiatives to address changing pest problems.
3. Organize and promote regional publications and educational materials that collectively summarize and capture major developments in the science and practice of cotton insect management. Routine considerations of the biology and ecology for major pest species are anticipated. This cooperative, regional activity is an important historical benchmark of evolving cotton insect management capacity.
Activities of the group will be organized and managed by a Chair and Secretary. The Chair will be responsible for the agenda and organization of annual meetings based on input from the participants. The Secretary will assist the Chair with planning the structure and logistics of the annual meeting and recording detailed minutes of the annual meeting. All information and announcements will be distributed electronically via email to a list of participants maintained by the Secretary. This information will be posted on the Southern Directors web page as appropriate.
The Chair and Secretary will be selected by identifying a new Secretary at annual meetings. The elected Secretary will serve two years, the first as Secretary and Chair-Elect and the second as Chair. The Chair will have overall responsibility for organizing project activities and communicating with Administrative Advisors and Executive Directors.
Objective or sub-objective leaders will develop committees to address specific topics and will be responsible for the technical work of each individual project. This structure will be dynamic and will evolve based on the issues of contemporary interest to the participants. The Chair and Secretary will assist these technical leaders with necessary reporting and administrative issues.
The group will meet annually, usually in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America or the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America. The meeting site will be determined one year in advance. The first organizational meeting is scheduled for March 8, 2005 at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Branch of the Entomological Society in Tunica, Mississippi.
This SERA-IEG is targeted for public sector discussion of issues associated with cotton insect management. The primary participants will be state and federal entomologists interested in cotton insects and cotton insect pest management. Private sector scientists, especially representatives of the agricultural chemical industry, will be invited to participate on occassion, but the meeting will be typically limited to extension and research entomologists at the land grant universities and USDA-ARS laboratories in the southern and western regions. Scientists from other scientific disciplines and other regions are welcome to participate, as are representatives of regional and national cotton grower organizations (e.g. National Cotton Council, Cotton Incorporated) and various federal agencies (Environmental Protection Agency, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, etc.). Representatives of state and federal regulatory agencies will be invited to attend to address the label status of existing products and novel chemistry.
Expected membership includes the participants in the previous SERA-IEG 23 Cotton Insects and new scientists with interest in cotton insect management at the various universities and federal laboratories in the Southern Region. Participation of graduate students and technical assistants is encouraged.
As described under the procedural plan, a Chair and a Secretary will work as a team to manage the project. This conforms to the "Standard Governance" procedure with the exception that the Secretary will also be the Chair-Elect. A new officer will be elected each year from the participants at the annual meeting. The first year he/she will serve as Secretary and Chair-elect, the second year as Chair.
This request for a new SERA-IEG on Cotton Insect Management evolved from discussions of extension and research entomologists at a 2002 meeting in Tunica, Mississippi and a 2003 exploratory discussion in Charleston, South Carolina. Copies of the minutes of these meeting are posted on the Southern Directors website. R. G. Luttrell at the University of Arkansas (luttrell@uark.edu ) and B. R. Leonard with Louisiana State University Ag Center (rleonard@agcenter.lsu.edu) were asked to serve as interim Chair and Secretary, respectively, and develop an initial draft of the request for a new information exchange group. This request reflects the desires and interests of the participants at these meetings and a larger audience of participants in the former SERA-IEG 23 contacted electronically prior to the 2003 Charleston meeting. Jim Harper at North Carolina State University (james_harper@ncsu.edu ) and Ralph Bagwell at Louisiana State University (rbagwell@agctr.lsu.edu ) serve as administrative advisors to the group, representing the Southern Research Directors and the Southern Directors of the Cooperative Extension Service, respectively. Dennis Kopp with the CSREES (dkopp@csrees.usda.gov ) attended the Charleston meeting and contributed to plans and potential of the proposed project.