IPM TODAY - ARE WE FULFILLING EXPECTATIONS

Since its inception, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has generated ex pectations that vary among different groups of people, including the g eneral public, university researchers and extension specialists, and g rowers. Because growers ultimately implement IPM strategies and tactic s, their expectations for IPM are paramount if IPM programs are to be adopted successfully. A series of regional workshops were conducted th roughout the United States in 1993. These workshops enabled growers to express their opinions about constraints against adopting IPM and sol utions for overcoming these constraints. Research and extension specia lists at land-grant institutions should address growers' constraints a nd solutions by focusing research and extension programs primarily on nonchemical IPM tactics, by strengthening the links among research, ex tension, and implementation of IPM tactics, and by making a concerted effort to educate the general public about IPM.