Wine grape PMSP meeting 3/23/2010

Members of the wine grape communities in NC and VA will be meeting on March 23, 2010 in Afton, VA to develop a Pest Management Strategic Plan for wine grapes in these 2 states. A PMSP is a one day meeting where agents, specialists and stakeholders (growers) describe the pests of a crop, the currently used management strategies, and the priority research and extension pest management needs. The documents are very useful when extension specialists (like me) are developing research proposals and are a requirement for some grants.

Cooperative extension agents and extension specialists will be attending, but we still need grower participation from NC. Grower and agent travel is covered by the Southern Region IPM Center. Grower cooperation is crucial to the success of this process. If you grow wine grapes (aka. Vinifera grapes or bunch grapes) in North Carolina and are interested in participating in this meeting, contact me, Dr. Sara Spayd (NCSU Horticulture), or Steve Toth (SRIPM) for more information.