Milling & Baking News - October 4, 2005 - 26

E D U C A T I O N

A N D

R E S E A R C H

U.S.D.A. awards $1.8 million
grant to K.S.U. to curb pests
MANHATTAN, KAS. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
given a $1.8 million grant to Kansas State University to help researchers at the school find ways to curb pest control for everyone
from the farmer who harvests grain, to the mill where it's processed, to the consumer who stores flour in the pantry.
Spurred by industry and government efforts to reduce the incidence of pesticides in the United States, the funding allows the
continuation of a project that began in 2000, which studies insects
in corn, wheat and rice. The first phase of the research was funded
by a U.S.D.A. grant of a little more than $2 million.
"In round one, from 2000
to 2005, we studied the
individual components of
the supply chain, including the trucks transporting
grain out of farm fields,
local elevators, rail cars,
grain processing facilities, distribution centers,
retail outlets and consumers' homes," said Sonny
Ramaswamy,
head
of
K.S.U.'s Department of
Entomology and lead researcher on the project. "In
round two, we want to put
it all together as packages.
"Every step of the way
through the transportation,
Sonny Ramaswamy, head of Kansas processing and distribution
State University's Department of En- process you have the optomology, is leading the research ef- portunity to bring (pests)
fort into eliminating insects in corn, into the grain or the grainbased product."
wheat and rice.
In addition to Mr. Ramaswamy, others involved in the project include Bhadriraju (Subi)
Subramanyam of K.S.U.'s Department of Grain Science, Frank
Arthur in the U.S.D.A. Grain Marketing Lab, Tom Phillips at
Oklahoma State University and Dirk Maier at Purdue University,
as well as a number of other researchers and students.
"In the end, this will benefit consumers," Mr. Ramaswamy said.
Part of the team's mission is to determine "thresholds" or levels
of acceptable versus non-acceptable numbers of insects in a particular amount of grain and how grain or grain products should
be treated if the thresholds are crossed, he said.
"If we have one insect in one million tons of grain, what does
that mean? Is that acceptable or unacceptable?" Mr. Ramaswamy said. "We're trying to establish thresholds. Obviously
there are thresholds above which you must take action. If indeed
it's (infestation) above the action threshold, what sort of action
do you take?"
Researchers studied that issue in the first round of research by
comparing such control methods as new insecticide chemistries,
fumigation, controlled atmosphere and temperature modification, use of natural enemies, other non-insecticidal methods, and
various integrated pest management (I.P.M.) methods.
The new funding will take the researchers through four more
years of study, according to K.S.U. In the first year, researchers
expect to identify insect control methods in systems from farms to
consumers' tables, and to identify chemical, biological and physical hazards along the farm-to-table marketing chain.
In year two, the scientists will implement plans laid out in the first
year, particularly the integrated systems approaches. In addition, they
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Milling & Baking News, October 4, 2005 / 27

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Milling & Baking News - October 4, 2005

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