In its current phase (Phase V), the IPM Innovation Lab is managing eight projects, each designed to address a specific challenge. U.S. universities, international agricultural research centers, and other institutions are working together to lead these projects, which are focused in seven Feed-the-Future countries in two regions: East Africa and Southeast Asia.
Biological control of the invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus in East Africa
Principal Investigator: Wondi Mersie
This project develops and implements biological control of the invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus in East Africa through a process of technology development, adoption, and scaling up combined with human and institutional capacity-building activities.
Vegetable crops IPM in East Africa
Principal Investigator: Luis Cañas
The IPM IL East Africa project addresses pests of vegetable crops – specifically tomato, African eggplant, cabbage, chilies, beans, and onion – in commercial fields and home gardens in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Rice, maize, and chickpea IPM for East Africa
Principal Investigator: Tadele Tefera
This project develops an IPM strategy for rice, maize, and chickpea in East Africa through a process of technology development and large-scale transfer combined with human and institutional capacity-building activities.
Vegetable crops and mango IPM in Asia
Principal Investigator: George Norton
The major vegetables grown in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Nepal include tomato, eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, numerous cucurbits, onion, and okra. This project builds on the work IPM IL has already accomplished in the region, and it develops IPM components for the pests and diseases of mango – an important fruit crop in Bangladesh – to integrate them into a package of practices.
IPM for exportable fruit crops in Vietnam
Principal Investigator: Nguyen Van Hoa
This project develops, implements, and scales up IPM packages in Vietnam for fruits of high export potential to the United States: lychee, longan, dragon fruit, and mango.
Ecologically-based Participatory IPM packages for rice in Cambodia (EPIC)
Principal Investigator: Virender Kumar
Crop losses due to pests are a major constraint to alleviating poverty and improving nutrition in Southeast Asia, and the improper use of pesticides poses a serious threat to health and biodiversity. This project diagnoses the major pests of rice and develops rice IPM technologies for the rice ecosystem.
Modeling for biodiversity and climate change
Principal Investigator: Pramod Kumar Jha
Climate change continues to impact agricultural systems and biodiversity. This project initiates an empirical study on the effect of climate change on biodiversity and changes in biodiversity to document climate change. Nepal represents a diversity of climatic regimes, making it an ideal country to conduct spatio-temporal changes in climate and, in turn, biodiversity.
Invasive Species Modeling for South American Tomato Leafminer and Groundnut Leafminer
Principal Investigators: Abhijin Adiga
The spread of invasive species is one of the greatest threats to ecological and agricultural well-being of the Earth. This project works toward creating a computer model that can predict the global spread of invasive species, using the tomato leafminer and groundnut leafminer as its first species to model.
