Social science in integrated pest management research

The USDA Regional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Centers define IPM as a pest management system that provides “socially acceptable, environmentally responsible and economically practical crop protection.” The Centers... [ view full abstract ]

The USDA Regional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Centers define IPM as a pest management system that provides “socially acceptable, environmentally responsible and economically practical crop protection.” The Centers follow a federally designed National Road Map for Integrated Pest Management. One of the core components of IPM is social acceptability, and the Road Map points to IPM as an activity that occurs at the “interface between pests, pest management, and the human environment,” while including residential and public areas as one of the primary focal points for IPM efforts. Nevertheless, the social dimensions of IPM are underrepresented in IPM research. We will use a number of approaches to better understand what opportunities there are for bolstering social science research on IPM. Using a broad array of search terms and search engines, we have identified approximately 130 social science publications on IPM (not including cost-benefit analyses). In turn, we will categorize these by social science discipline, methodology, research questions, human subject areas, IPM areas, and other emergent categories. The primary sources for IPM funding are the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), and the Crop Protection and Pest Management Program, all funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). We will use administrative data from this agency to identify funded social-science IPM projects that address questions related to IPM using a similar approach to that used with the research publications to identify key subject areas. These findings will be used to provide input into the update of the IPM Road Map and to USDA NIFA and the Centers as they develop priorities. As IPM research is a highly interdisciplinary area, we will also use this administrative data, in conjunction with the IPM and social science literature review, to explore whether or not there exists a gap in the specialized forms of social-science expertise required for the review of IPM related grant proposals and explore opportunities for increasing the pool of expertise required to assure adequate review of such proposals by the primary IPM funding opportunities. The ultimate impact of this research is the protection of human health and the environment through increased interdisciplinary IPM research and outreach.