"These results demonstrate that elitism in insect societies can arise as the extreme of a stable spectrum of individual behavioural activity that allows the colony to respond easily to unexpected needs rather than relying on responses of a rigidly defined subgroup of workers."
7pgs, 12pgs, The Texas citrus industry is threatened by the presence of Mexican fruit fly. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic losses caused by this invasive pest. Economic impact is estimated in terms of loss in revenue and increase in operating costs. Under current quarantined areas and pest management strategies, the Texas citrus industry could experience an annual economic loss of $5.79 million. The analysis was extended to evaluate the economic impact associated with different quarantined area scenarios. This article can be used to increase awareness and adapted to estimate the economic impact of emerging invasive pest outbreaks.
6 pages., Article # 1IAW7, Via online journal., A 6-hr train-the-trainer workshop focused on introducing the concept that insects may play a significant role in food security as the world population is projected to exceed 9 billion people by the mid 21st century. Workshop topics including cultural, nutritional, culinary, and commercial aspects surrounding edible insects were presented and packaged into a formal curriculum for later use by the participants. A 12-item sensory evaluation of insect-fortified foods provided participants a tangible experience with product palatability. By the end of the workshop, participants had increased various dimensions of their knowledge about edible insects and reported a generally positive perception toward insect-based foods.
Via web site. 2 pages., "At odds over the question of trade secrets versus the public's right to know, a biopesticide manufacturer and the Monterey County Weekly have sued each other. A third case brought by environmentalists is schedule to be heard Oct. 18."
Specht, Kathrin (author), Zoll, Felix (author), Schumann, Henrike (author), Bela, Julia (author), Kachel, Julia (author), and Robischon, Marcel (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 99 Document Number: D10870
Via online. 27 pages., Global challenges such as climate change, increasing urbanization and a lack of transparency of food chains, have led to the development of innovative urban food production approaches, such as rooftop greenhouses, vertical farms, indoor farms, aquaponics as well as production sites for edible insects or micro-algae. Those approaches are still at an early stage of development and partly unknown among the public. The aim of our study was to identify the perception of sustainability, social acceptability and ethical aspects of these new approaches and products in urban food production. We conducted 19 qualitative expert interviews and applied qualitative content analysis. Our results revealed that major perceived benefits are educational effects, revaluation of city districts, efficient resource use, exploitation of new protein sources or strengthening of local economies. Major perceived conflicts concern negative side-effects, legal constraints or high investment costs. The extracted acceptance factors deal significantly with the “unknown”. A lack of understanding of the new approaches, uncertainty about their benefits, concerns about health risks, a lack of familiarity with the food products, and ethical doubts about animal welfare represent possible barriers. We conclude that adaptation of the unsuitable regulatory framework, which discourages investors, is an important first step to foster dissemination of the urban food production approaches.
Available online at www.centmapress.org, Authors address the production of proteins from insects as the next big challenge for Western countries. Results from a sampling of millennials suggested that acceptance is "far to be obtained, although the most powerful driver to insect consumption can be the invisibility of the insect shape."
Ludwick, Dalton (author), Morrison, William R (author), Acebes-Doria, Angelita L (author), Agnello, Arthur M (author), Bergh, J Christopher (author), Buffington, Matthew L (author), Hamilton, George C (author), Harper, Jayson K (author), Hoelmer, Kim A (author), Krawczyk, Gregory (author), Kuhar, Thomas P (author), Pfeiffer, Douglas G (author), Nielsen, Anne L (author), Rice, Kevin B (author), Rodriguez-Saona, Cesar (author), Shearer, Peter W (author), Shrewsbury, Paula M (author), Talamas, Elijah J (author), Walgenbach, James F (author), and Wiman, Nik G (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2020
Published:
United States: Oxford University Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12276
16 pages, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the brown marmorated stink bug, is a globally invasive stink bug species. Its first major outbreak was in the United States, where it has caused millions of dollars in damage, threatened livelihoods of specialty crop growers and impacted row crop growers, and become an extreme nuisance pest in and around dwellings. The BMSB IPM Working Group, funded by the Northeastern IPM Center, was central to providing a mechanism to form a multidisciplinary team and develop initial and subsequent research, Extension, regulatory and consumer priorities. Ultimately, a project team consisting of over 50 scientists from 11 institutions in 10 states obtained the largest ever USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative CAP grant, totaling over $10.7 million, to tackle this crisis over a 5-yr period (2011–2016). Researchers and Extension educators integrated stakeholder feedback throughout the course of the project, and priorities evolved according to needs of affected growers and public stakeholders. Initially, the team focused on identification of H. halys , its damage symptoms and crop-specific risks, and short-term mitigation strategies for crop protection. Subsequently, work focused on its biology, ecology, and behavior leading to the development of potential longer-term IPM tactics and landscape level management solutions, including biological control. This work continues under a second SCRI CAP grant (2016–2021). The information from the initial team reached an estimated 22,000 specialty crop stakeholder contacts via Extension efforts, and over 600 million people via mainstream media. We highlight the main lessons learned from coordinating a national response to the threat posed by H. halys to agriculture in the United States.
5 pages., Article # 1IAW6, vial online journal, Project Happy Apples began as an effort to assist backyard growers in managing codling moth in their fruit trees. We developed a process using emails and a web page to provide timely information related to the life cycle of codling moth and relevant integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. The content of our updates included pertinent photos, costs of tools, and suggested dates of action. Results from a survey of participants suggest that they were more confident, knowledgeable, and successful in using IPM strategies in their own backyards as a result of our project.
8 pages, The conjunction of citizen science and social media through the mediation of the smartphone is investigated in this Scientific Communication, following on from the last issue of the Moravian Geographical Reports (2019, Vol. 27, No. 4). Through a reconsideration of three previously published articles, in part written by the author, this paper reflects on these topics with regard to farmer innovation, local food networks and citizen-informed ecology. Each of these papers has used Twitter to gather data about practices of innovation and observation that have revealed new insights about innovation networks amongst farmers, urban-rural connections and insect behaviours. The reflections reported here are embedded in a discussion of the rise of the term 'Citizen Science'. Recent experiences in areas as diverse as fisheries management and combating Ebola, have informed societal needs for greater engagement in finding inclusive, comprehensive solutions to urgent socio-ecological problems. This paper suggests a compositional approach to studies using citizen scientists and their data as a new avenue of practice and investigation.
Available online at www.centmapress.org, Results among Italian consumers indicated that texture and appearance of the insect were perceived as stronger barriers than the taste attribute.
Verneau, Fabio (author), La Barbera, Francesco (author), Kolle, Susanne (author), Amato, Mario (author), Del Giudice, Teresa (author), and Grunert, Klaus (author)
Format:
Journal / Abstract
Publication Date:
2016
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D06804
Zazueta, Fedro S. (author), Beck, Howard (author), Xin, Jiannong (author), Halsey, Larry (author), and Fletcher, James (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
1998
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C24673
Notes:
Pages 352-358 in Fedro S. Zazueta and Jiannong Xin (eds.), Computers in agriculture: proceedings of the 7th international conference on computers in agriculture, Orlando, Florida, October 26-30, 1998. St. Joseph, Michigan: American Society of Agricultural Engineers. 999 pages.
22pgs, We introduce the “coordination frontier” (CF), a simple practical tool to assess the likelihood of success of voluntary coordination in situations where, ex ante, the collective action solution provides an appealing alternative (e.g., for pest and disease control). We demonstrate the value of information conveyed by the CF, explain how to construct the CF from experimental data, and show how to apply the CF in practice. We illustrate the concept with an application to data from a framed field economic experiment, which was designed to elicit the preferences of Florida's citrus growers regarding their willingness to coordinate actions to combat citrus greening disease. This is a highly relevant case study not only because of the significant impact caused by citrus greening on Florida's citrus industry but also because a voluntary area-wide pest management program to control it had been established in 2010 and eventually failed; a similar program is now in place in California, where the disease spread is at an earlier stage. Had the CF been available in Florida, estimates of the (aggregate) chances of successful coordination could have been shared with growers to update their beliefs regarding the chances of successful coordination to help reduce strategic uncertainty. Policymakers in California could use the CF in such way and devise ways to encourage participation to increase the chances of reaching a desired coordination threshold.
