Today's discussions portray a program that fits effectively and productively into the future of food safety, without glossing over the need for change if we're to keep advancing. A total of 57 projects were funded in 25 states through 1998. We expect another 15 to 20 projects this year, as the call for proposals closes in three weeks, on June2. Perhaps one of the most exciting projects is an alternative to organophosphates that we don't even have an official name for yet. Whatever you call it, USDA researchers, working with scientists from the University of Massachusetts and Michigan State University, are working to find growers an effective alternative to the three OP sprays typically needed to control apple maggot fly.
Growers are worried.
Twenty-five years of research haven't yielded an effective alternative for controlling this pest. But their color and odor are luring flies to these death traps and this practical result of collaborative technology is already proving effective in the northeast. Kris Giles at Oklahoma State University has developed a procedure to help reduce the use of pesticides on greenbugs in wheat. These alternative strategies are the result of solid, applied science. But that science must go where the needs are.