By Lauren Chambliss, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
The delegation with Chinese hosts at a bamboo museum (Helene Dillard 2nd from left, Mike Hoffmann, 4th from left)
A typical farm in China visited by Dillard and Hoffmann
Helene Dillard (1st from left) and Mike Hoffmann (2nd from left) in Tiananmen Square with other members of the U.S. delegation
The U.S. delegation at The Great Wall of China
CALS Associate Deans Michael Hoffmann and Helene Dillard recently returned from a two-week trip to China, where as pest management and extension professionals, they shared and compared Chinese and American efforts to deal with agricultural pests - pathogens, rodents and bugs - that plague farmers on both continents.
Dillard, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and Hoffmann, director of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, joined a five-person delegation of U.S. experts who traveled to China as part of an USDA: Foreign Agricultural Service-supported scientific cooperation exchange program in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and extension. IPM was first developed in the US in the 1950s and is an effective, economical and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management for plant and animal production systems. Now used widely around the world, IPM incorporates pest detection and monitoring to implement biological controls, cultural controls, pesticides and biotechnology more effectively, with better crop yields, and with less risk to the environment. The other members of the American delegation were from University of California at Davis, Pennsylvania State University, and Washington State University.
Although an ocean apart, Chinese and American agricultural producers have more in common than one might think, including plenty of pests, marketing their crops, and generating an adequate income to stay in business. And both countries' agricultural sectors face increasing challenges from changes to the global environment, changing land-use patterns, and movement of exotic pest species. Interestingly, China's huge population gives it an advantage over one persistent American problem -- weeds. The sheer number of agricultural workers in China allows weeds to be picked by hand from fields.
Hoffmann and Dillard traveled to Beijing, Sichuan, Fujian and Shanghai provinces to observe IPM technology development and transfer, from the provincial Agricultural Academy of Sciences and universities, through the Plant Protection Services of the provincial ministries, to the local governmental levels, and ultimately to the farmers.
“We met with many researchers who were developing improved methods for managing pests,” Hoffmann said. “We were impressed by the scale and diversity of research programs, ranging from the applied to basic.”
In the United States, the latest advancements in IPM techniques are typically communicated via university extension networks, such as Cornell's, that connect academic institutions with regional extension offices, and ultimately agricultural producers and farmers. While the university/extension connection is not as formal as the American approach via the land-grant system, China uses a centralized system for getting the latest information to the people who matter most - those growing the crops.
“Every possible means was being used to inform farmers of threatening pest infestations,” Dillard said. “An impressive, national, online pest monitoring network is being developed. Pest information is collected from numerous individuals onsite who report pest outbreaks to the local and central government agencies and to farmers. Information reaches farmers via websites, extension information bulletins, television, motorcyclists who distribute flyers, posters, a 24 hour hotline, extension training workshops, extension farmers' field schools, and teleconferences.”
Dillard and Hoffmann's tour was not confined to IPM and agriculture. They also experienced China's rich cultural and culinary heritage.
“We were treated exceptionally well by our host from the Center of International Cooperation Service, Ministry of Agriculture of China who, in addition to arranging our many meetings with researchers and extension specialists, made sure we saw the major sites, including the Great Wall,” said Hoffmann.
Hoffmann and Dillard say they were encouraged by the opportunities for future collaboration. The United States and China have challenges in common and through cooperation and exchange of ideas and research, Hoffman and Dillard believe both countries can develop and implement the best pest management practices - benefiting agriculture, the environment and human health.