Answers about the IPM PIPE
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Impacts/benefits: What have been the costs and benefits of PIPE?

When the PIPE was first being built for soybean rust, the USDA supported the project with $2 million to build the platform, and another $2 million to establish the sentinel plot system the first year. The United Soybean Board has also put in $350,000 to support sentinel plots annually. Thus the cost of operating the PIPE is in the $2-3 million range each year, not to mention all the time and effort contributed by the extension specialists, county extension faculty and diagnosticians at the Land Grant Universities in each state. But this is money well spent! The first year the PIPE was up and running, an Economic Research System report estimated that if people relied on the PIPE to make decisions about whether to spray or not, the system saved American farmers up to $299 million.

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This page developed and managed by the Southern Region Integrated Pest Management Centerlocated at North Carolina State University, 1710 Varsity Drive, Suite 110, Raleigh, NC 27606 Contact Jim VanKirk with comments and suggestions. Last updated: February 04, 2012