NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
December 9, 1999
The Interregional Research Project No. 4, or IR-4, is a little-known USDA program, but its benefits stretch far afield--to many fields, in fact. There currently are about 40 minor crops being produced in North Dakota for which a wide range of pesticides have been registered as a result of IR-4 research.
"The scope and focus of the IR-4 project is to help with residue trials that would lead to the establishment of tolerance levels," says Richard Zollinger, extension weed specialist at North Dakota State University. He currently serves as the IR-4 state liaison for North Dakota. For years, this post was held by John Nalewaja, a professor in the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences who is now retired.
Begun in 1963, the USDA's IR-4 project has assisted with more than 4,500 food-use clearances, including tolerances, exemptions and label expansions. The reason for USDA involvement is because there is little economic incentive for the pesticide manufacturers to do the research required for the registration or re-registration of their products, Zollinger says.
In North Dakota, the list of crops affected by IR-4 research range from alfalfa to watermelon, and in between include such crops as canarygrass, carrots, clover, corn, crambe, cucumbers, flax, garlic, lentils, onions, dry peas, potatoes, proso millet, pumpkins, rapeseed, raspberries, safflower, soybeans, strawberries, sunflowers, sugarbeets and tomatoes.
"The objective of IR-4 is to register pesticides for use on minor crops," Zollinger stresses.
U.S. farmers grow more than 400 minor crops, and in total, minor crops comprise 42 percent of the value of all U.S. crops, according to the USDA. But without effective pest-management tools, U.S. farmers may discontinue their production of many of those crops, says Richard Guest, national director for the IR-4 project, which is headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J. The IR-4 project involves research on both pesticides and biopesticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). A goal of the IR-4 project is to assist in the registration of 50 biopesticides a year.
IR-4 research occurs at 19 field research centers and 16 analytical laboratories, Guest says. As part of their IR-4 work, scientists develop protocols, monitor research and prepare tolerance petitions for assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency. A key focus of IR-4 research involves evaluating reduced-risk pesticides and those that are compatible with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) requirements.
For the year 2000, Zollinger says IR-4 research specific to North Dakota will involve the following pesticides and crops:
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Source: Richard Zollinger (701) 231-8157
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136