Satoru Miyazaki and John Wise, Entomology, and
Bernard Zandstra, Horticulture

Due to the current review of crop protection chemicals under the Food Quality Protection Act and the high cost to industry of product registration, specialty crops (formerly known as minor crops) and sometimes, minor uses on major crops are at risk of having few available pest management products or being lost for pest management. To mitigate this problem IR-4 (Interregional Research Project No.4), primarily funded by USDA-CSREES, facilitates pesticide registration for specialty crops by conducting field residue trials, and occasionally, efficacy trials. Specialty crop research needs are prioritized each year during a national workshop since resources are limited. The primary objective of this workshop was to have the participants identify the most important research projects for the 2010 IR-4 research program.

Research priorities for the year 2010 field residue program for fruits, vegetables, field crops and herbs grown in the United States and Canada were assigned at the Food Use Workshop held September 15-16 in Cleveland, Ohio. The workshop was attended by Drs. Bernard Zandstra, Mary Hausbeck, Annemiek Schilder, Rufus Isaacs, Lynnae Jess, Satoru Miyazaki, Bob Hollingworth and John Wise of Michigan State University, along with other specialty crop/use researchers, extension specialists, representatives of commodity and industry groups across the country, and personnel from EPA, USDA, IR-4 plus the AAFC (Canadian counterpart of minor use program), and PMRA (Canadian counterpart of U.S. EPA) personnel.

More than 160 people attended the two-day meeting for each discipline session. Participants were provided with a complete list of all pesticides “nominated” with desired priority (i.e.; A or B rating) by regions for consideration prior to the meeting. This “nomination” process, introduced three years ago, greatly streamlined project selections and allowed the participants to spend more time reviewing only the worthy projects. As a group they ranked products based on need, performance, safety, availability of alternatives and compatibility with the IPM program. Only a limited number of projects could be assigned “A” (entomology [17], weed science [18], plant pathology [20]). An “A” priority guarantees IR-4 to begin the field residue program immediately the following season, with expectations that a complete data package be submitted to the EPA within 30 months. Fourteen fruit projects important for Michigan were assigned A priorities. (See the accompanying table). Any “B” priority projects must be upgraded to A priority either by a Priority Upgrade Proposal (PUP) or by regional upgrade. The following new candidate priority “A” projects listed are preliminary until affirmed at the IR-4 national planning meeting on October 27 – 29, 2009. A complete listing can be found on the IR-4 web-site (http://www.ir4.rutgers.edu).

Priority A’s for Fruits

Insecticides and Bird Repellent
Commodity	Chemical	Reasons for Need
CHERRY	ANTHRAQUINONE*	BIRDS; GULLS, STARLINGS, WAX WINGS
CHERRY	FENPYROXIMATE	TWO-SPOTTED SPIDER MITES
CANEBERRY	ACETAMIPRID	ROOT WEEVILS, APHIDS, JAPANESE BEETLE
BLUEBERRY	ANTHRAQUINONE*	BIRDS; STARLINGS, WAX WINGS & ROBINS
BLUEBERRY	TOLFENPYRAD	CRANBERRY FRUITWORM, PLUM CURCULIO, BLUEBERRY MAGGOT
GRAPE	BIFENTHRIN	GRAPE ROOT BORER
STRAWBERRY	ABAMECTIN	IMPORTED FIRE ANT
Herbicides
Commodity	Chemical	Reasons for Need
PEAR	CLOPYRALID	CANADA THISTLE, GOLDENROD, WILD ASTER
PEACH	SIMAZINE**	WEEDS
CANEBERRY (BLACKBERRY)	QUINCLORAC	FIELD BINDWEED, HEDGE BINDWEED, BARNYARDGRASS, CANADA THISTLE, LARGE CRABGRASS
CANEBERRY (RASPBERRY)	FLUAZIFOP-P-BUTYL	WEEDS
BLUEBERRY	QUINCLORAC	FIELD BINDWEED, HEDGE BINDWEED, BARNYARDGRASS, CANADA THISTLE, LARGE CRABGRASS
GRAPE	QUIZALOFOP	GRASSES, JOHNSONGRASS
STRAWBERRY	PROHEXADIONE CALCIUM	REDUCE RUNNER GROWTH & INCREASE YIELD
STRAWBERRY (PERENNIAL)	FOMESAFEN	WEEDS
Fungicides
Commodity	Chemical	Reasons for Need
No A priority***