Project Number: 212-22000-019-06
Project Type: Specific C/A

Start Date: Jan 02, 2004
End Date: Sep 30, 2008

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research is to discover and develop biological control technology against selected insect pests, weeds, and plant diseases in sustainable integrated management systems.

Approach:
Traditional approaches for biological control will be applied. Explorations will be conducted to search for natural enemies of targeted weeds, insect pests, and tropical crop diseases. The pool of natural enemies will provide selected candidate biological control agents to be characterized as to identifications, life histories, efficacy against the targets, ecological adaptations/interactions, and especially host ranges or non-target effects. Tissue cultures may be employed in bioa-assays and/or provide media for in-vitro cultures of targets and candidates. The targets and candidate biological control agents will be genetically characterized, as needed, by modern molecular techniques. Microbial biological control candidates will be subjected to various techniques for enhanced production, formulation, and application. Techniques will be integrated into sustainable management systems for production agriculture and protection of the environment in natural areas.

Project Team

Widmer, Timothy Quimby, Paul - Chuck Massimo Cristofaro - President, Bbca 301-504-4545

Related National Programs

Crop Protection & Quarantine (304)