Pest Management Professional, June 2011

university update Kansas State University The Manhattan Project Kansas serves as a research mecca for stored product pests Dr Thomas W Phillips Contributor K ansas State University K State Manhattan Kan is considered by many a mecca for stored product insect entomology because of the number of K State scientists students and agencies focused on research education and other work with these serious pests My research and teaching programs in K States Entomology Department cover biology and alternative controls for storage pests My colleagues in K States Department of Grain Science and Industry also conduct research on storage pests and on the engineering of proper storage and handling for grain that protects against insects and the environment The U S Department of Agriculture USDA operates a group in Manhattan entirely committed to research on stored product insects There also are engineers plant breeders plant pathologists and cereal chemists at USDA who do work with grain protection The USDA scientists hold adjunct appointments at K State so they can advise students and collaborate freely with K State faculty in various departments AIB Internationals home office also is located in Manhattan and serves as an industry standard for education and sanitation inspections Stored product pests include species of beetles and moths adapted to feeding on human stored durable commodities such as grains milled products dried meats processed foods and value added food products Management and control of stored product pests occurs along a continuum including grain elevators flour mills food plants warehouses grocery stores and individual residences thus pest management professionals PMPs can be involved at numerous points The publics need for high quality insect free food that is also free of chemical pesticide residues and is produced in safe healthy environments justifies research in these areas The loss of key pesticides due to regulations and the evolution of resistance facilitates research on alternatives A recent breakthrough at K State is the application of the synthetic sex pheromone of the Indianmeal moth and other storage moths for population control through mating disruption K State also has been a leader on research and training for heat treatments applied to mills and food plants as alternatives to fumigation Research on alternative fumigant gases has shown great promise Aerosol or fogging and residual spray treatments of food facilities have gained popularity and K State has lead the way in researching the most effective active ingredients and application methods We conduct research on the use of natural parasitoids predators and pathogens for pest control in addition to commercial insecticides derived from safe bacterial isolates Work on pest population biology has resulted in trapping and sampling methods to obtain numerical data on insects that can be used to predict outbreaks or plan control actions USDA researchers developed a computer based expert system that uses monitoring information to recommend the optimum pest management for the grain elevator operator Fundamental research on genetics and physiology might lead to novel biologically based controls in the future The red flour beetle the No 1 pest of the flour milling industry was the first agricultural insect pest to have its genome fully sequenced with the work starting in Manhattan The basic spin offs from that project are showing considerable potential new control approaches for the future K State continues to be a world center for stored product protection and is part of a larger global network of scientists educators and practitioners committed to protecting our food supplies Please look to us for information or advice on this important topic pmp Dr Tom Phillips a Professor of Entomology at Kansas State University can be reached at twp1@ ksu edu or 785 532 4720 Helpful websites For more information on Dr Thomas Phillips stored product pest program at Kansas State University K State visit http www entomology ksu edu p aspx tabid 13 ItemID 1203 mid 74 staff_ category Faculty For more details on Dr Bhadriraju Subramanyams program at K States Department of Grain Science and Industry visit http www ksre ksu edu grsc_ subi For information on the USDAs related programs in Manhattan Kan visit http ars usda gov main docs htm docid 4389 54 June 2011 Pest Management Professional mypmp net