Insect Pest Management

The focus of our research and extension efforts are to develop tools to optimize pest management specifically for our New Mexico environment. Many recommendations have been developed in areas that are unlike New Mexico, areas that have high relative humidity and large acreage of monoculture crops. New Mexico has characteristics that can aid us in controlling insect pests. Our low relative humidity is a source of high mortality for insect pests that evolved in subtropical conditions. Our smaller acreage, with comparatively diverse crops, provides many of our crops with higher levels of beneficial insects that help control insect pests.

Areas of emphasis include the use of biological and cultural controls as well as plant resistance. Specific projects include evaluations of the impacts of crop microclimate and arthropod populations in our arid/semiarid environments. Biological control of insect pests of pecan, alfalfa, cotton and sorghum is a subject of much of our research. We have a long history of work with host plant resistance, conventional, transgenic and enhanced by fungal endophytes and currently have projects looking at resistance to Bt cottons and resistance to sugarcane aphid. We continue to work on the economic impact of insect pests and development of economic injury levels. Looking at a variety of insect pests of economic importance we also have determined the rate of infection of Triatomines in southeastern New Mexico and are expanding that effort to reduce the potential incidence of Chagas Disease.

GIRLS LOOKING AT COTTON


Contact Info

Jane Breen Pierce
67 E. Four Dinkus Rd
Artesia NM 88210
Phone: 575-748-1228
Email: japierce@nmsu.edu
URL: http://artesiasc.nmsu.edu