Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the goal of this…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the goal of this transdisciplinary standard research and extension proposal is to create resilient IPM programs for eastern tree fruit enterprises resulting in increased economic and ecological sustainability in the face of climate change, regulatory changes, and economic uncertainty. Our expert team of researchers and extension specialists in entomology, horticulture, economics, and social science already work with many apple and peach growers in the eastern US. Economic and sociological research elements are fully embedded within our project to identify and resolve factors that could reduce on-farm adoption of enhanced IPM programs. Our objectives were built around the most difficult to manage pest complex identified through commodity groups and surveys of eastern apple and peach growers. They include codling moth (CM), oriental fruit moth (OFM), plum curculio (PC), brown marmorated stink BUG (bmsb), SAN jose scale (SJS), lesser peachtree and peachtree borer (lptb, PTB) and dogwood borer (DWB). Our objectives are to: 1) measure phenological shifts of these key pests and evaluate reliability of available monitoring tools and models; 2) refine IPM tools to ensure compatibility with evolving production practices, regulatory changes, and climate; 3) suppress pest populations across orchard agroecosystems with promising biocontrol agents and integrate enhanced IPM tactics; and 4) assess the socioeconomic impact of enhanced IPM programs to promote grower adoption and market flexibility. The results of this project will provide eastern growers with the critical tools and platforms needed to operate profitably and sustainably into the future and contribute to healthy rural economies and communities.