INTEGRATED PLATFORM FOR EXTENSION AND EDUCATION (IPIPE)

Food security is best served by a national infrastructure of private and public professionals who routinely monitor crop health and pest incidence then translate this knowledge to a shared platform enabling rapid dissemination of mitigation measures to limit crop loss. The Integrated Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (iPiPE) provides such an infrastructure with cyberage tools, information products and expert commentary for detection and management of new, foreign, or emerging target pests and endemic pests that threaten U.S. crops. By categorizing pests, data, and users, it enables sharing observations while protecting privacy of individuals, companies, and government agencies. The 28 iPiPE Crop-Pest Programs will incentivize growers and consultants to submit observations on target and endemic pests by providing tools and information for timely management decision-making. Coordinated by extension professionals from across the nation, programs address a variety of crops and pests and provide undergraduate students (56-112) with hands-on extension and diagnostic experiences. Risk-based research will prioritize detection efforts for target pests and direct in-field scouting for endemic pests. Observations housed in a national pest observation depository will enable future research using geographically extensive, multi-year databases. iPiPE success will be measured by numbers of Crop-Pest Programs, participating stakeholders and trained students. While costs to establish Crop-Pest Programs are significant, maintenance can be sustained with minimum funding. The expansion of Crop-Pest Programs with CAP support will attract industry funding, ensuring long-term sustainability. At project completion, the iPiPE, through its expansion of Programs, will increase IPM adoption and enhance U.S. food security.