UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has been honored for his contributions in developing an online tool to forecast the emergence of threats to soybean crops.
Scott Isard, professor of aerobiology, received the International Integrated Pest Management Award of Excellence. The award recognizes Isard's collaboration with international agencies, land grant universities and the soybean industry in developing the Soybean Rust Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education.
Incorporating weather data and knowledge of pest biology, the website provides the latest information on soybean rust and soybean aphid, including observations and recommendations for management and scouting. Producers, crop consultants, Extension specialists, and government and industry personnel in the United States, Canada and Mexico utilize the program.
The tool is credited with reducing the amount of fungicide used to manage soybean rust and saving growers millions of dollars they would have spent on fungicide applications.
The award was shared by more than 20 of the main contributors to the soybean rust program and was presented at the recent 2012 International Integrated Pest Management Symposium in Memphis, Tenn.
The soybean rust tool can be found at http://sbr.ipmpipe.org.