NJINPAS - Crop Profiles

One of the specific objectives of NJinPAS is to compile and analyze raw pesticide user survey data resulting from New Jersey private pesticide applicator surveys. The raw data itself is unpublished for grower confidentiality. However, we analyze and summarize the results  in the preparation of the crop profiles and  pest management strategic plans (PMSPs) for use by government agencies making regulatory decisions. Crop profiles are one of the ways that this analysis is documented  for national, regional, and local distribution. NJinPAS specifically assesses use data to forecast impacts of changes in pesticide regulations on agricultural productivity in New Jersey.

Specifically, Crop Profiles are one of the key ways this information is shared with New Jersey stakeholders, other mid-Atlantic states, the NEIPM Center, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  See the national guidelines (as revised by Burr) for an outline of the key elements to be addressed in a crop profile. The 'Rutgers Cooperative Extension 'Technical Review Form for New Jersey Crop Profiles' also specifies the key elements of a crop profile.

Most of the New Jersey crop profiles have been completed using datasets from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) 1997 and 2000 agricultural pesticide use surveys. Since these surveys are required by law as opposed to being voluntary, the data is more like a census. Most of the reports based on 1997 use data were revised when the 2000 data became available from NJDEP; crop profiles and PMSPs in progress are using the most recently released data from 2003.

Revision of a draft Crop profile for blueberry using 2000 data is pending (preparation of this crop profile was not under the NEIPMC grant monies).

Currently, NJinPAS-funded Work Groups are in the process of producing:

  • conducting statewide surveys of pest management and production practices for arugula (baby and other), basil, and leeks,
  • developing three crop profiles for arugula (baby and other), basil, and leeks (subsequent to the release of this document, NJ SNP will develop a pest management strategy plan for leeks).

Crop profiles completed for New Jersey commodities are listed below are distinguished by date of data; the date they were published (when known) follows in parenthesis.

These crop profiles will be reviewed and revised as new data becomes available. Crop profiles prepared throughout the United States are retrievable from a searchable online national crop profile database.

See the article 'Benefits of Pest Management Strategic Plans and Crop Profiles' by O. Norman Nesheim & Russell F. Mizell, III of the Southern Region Pest Management Center for a more detailed explanation of crop profiles. The USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Education Service Fact Sheet 'USDA Crop Profiles Provide Critical Data on Pest Management' also details their utility.

For further information, contact Pat Hastings hastings@njaes.rutgers.edu  or NJinPAS Project Director Dr. George Hamilton hamilton@njaes.rutgers.edu.  Both may be reached by phone at 732-932-9801

This site is supported, in part, with funding from the Northeastern IPM Center.

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