The National IPM Database (IPM Data) serves all four regional IPM Centers (Southern, North Central, Northeastern, and Western) to preserve and enhance environmental quality, economic profitability, and human health in all settings. The IPM Data database-driven application provides information to support the USDA’s IPM program.
The database includes original Pest Management Strategic Plans (PMSPs), Crop Profiles (CPs), IPM Elements, and Timeline source documents as well as newly developed sources which contains state crop commodities.
Over 2000 damaging pests and more than 600 Active Ingredient PC Codes and EPA Numbers have been recorded into IPM Data.
Pest Management Strategic Plans and Crop Profiles
Crop Profiles and Pest Management Strategic Plans are two sources of data that describe current and historical pest management practices for settings (e.g., agricultural commodities, schools, specialty crops, etc.) in the United States and territories. The development of documents began in 1998 as a response to the Food Quality Protection Act to ensure the collection of required data for the registration of pesticides. These documents are primary sources for government agencies, growers, crop consultants, and scientific researchers to understand and communicate production practices and issues. The documents include crop settings, priorities, worker activities, production practices, locations, pollinator protection, pests, beneficials, controls (biological, cultural, physical, and chemical), efficacy, resistance management, ecotoxicity, and timelines.
Stakeholders can access these documents through the National IPM Database. The database includes functionality to develop and edit documents as well as Application Programming Interfaces to add data to the Crop Profile and Pest Management Strategic Plan documents.
Pest Management Strategic Plans address pest management needs and priorities for individual commodities in a particular state or region. The plans take a pest-by-pest approach to identifying the current management practices (chemical and nonchemical) and those under development.
PMSPs are developed by growers, commodity associations, land-grant university specialists, food processors, crop consultants, and the EPA. Plans include priorities for research, regulatory activity, and education/training programs needed for transition to alternative pest management practices.
Growers, commodity associations, land-grant specialists, food processors, crop consultants, and EPA provide input for these sources to address pest management practices and priorities. The data includes crops, worker activities, production facts, counties, and practices, pests (insects, weeds, nematodes, and pathogens), controls (biological, cultural, physical, and chemical), priorities, IPM practices, pollinator protection, beneficials, toxicity, efficacy, and resistance management.
Crop profiles are snapshots of crop production practices for agricultural commodities. Usually produced on a state-by-state basis, crop profiles provide agricultural statistics for the crop; information on regions within the state; an inventory of pests and strategies used for their management (e.g., cultural practices, biological control, and pesticides); and lists of key contacts, references, and online resources. Crop profiles are considered living documents, so as the pest management situation changes, older crop profiles are revised and updated versions made available.
If you are interested in leading a crop profile or PMSP, or to find out more information about IPM Data please contact Lacey Belanger.