2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Evaluate the effectiveness of pre-plant and midseason soil-incorporated insecticides for control of soil inhabiting pests of sweetpotato grown on small farms in the Delta of Mississippi. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Establish small plot, replicated tests in Mississippi to test insect pests of sweetpotatoes. Monitor plots weekly using all currently available scouting techniques to determine insect numbers and need for management activities. Potatoes will be evaluated for white grub, wireworm, whitefringed beetle, flea beetle and cutworm damage. 3.Progress Report This report serves to document research conducted under a Specific Cooperative Agreement between Mississippi State University and ARS. Additional details for this subordinate project may be found in the in-house project 6402-22000-045-00D, “Integrated Pest Management for Mid-South Area Row Crops.” Plots of sweet potato and brown top millet were planted at the Jamie Whitten Center, USDA-ARS, Stoneville, MS, in order to establish a population of white grubs. Eight rows of millet and eight rows of sweet potato, replicated 4 times, were planted in row approximately 500ft long. Because several white grub species are attracted to grass, it was intended that the larvae would be established in the millet, and the following year sweet potato would be planted in the area where the millet had been with increased potential of testing soil-incorporated pesticides. At the end of the season, there was approximately one white grub per row-ft of millet. Twenty row-ft of border rows and center rows of each plot were dug with a commercial potato harvester 93 days after planting potatoes were washed and examined for insect damage. Percent of potatoes damaged by white grub ranged from 10 to 13 percent with a trend toward more damage in rows bordering the millet than in rows in the center of the 8-row sweet potato plots. Identification of the grubs to species is pending, however the possibility exits that the dominant species occurring in the millet is not a pest of sweet potato. This agreement was monitored by four site visits.