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Governments, universities and private companies around the world fund scientific research that eventually affects golf course management. A few recently released studies have produced results that seem destined for the superintendent’s tool box.
Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (www.ars.usda.gov), the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have developed a new, environmentally friendly, slow-release fertilizer for lawns, turf and other crops. The ARS says greenhouse studies show that the new fertilizer technology can reduce the potential for leaching of nutrients into groundwater, streams and rivers by as much as 97 percent for phosphorus and 84 percent for nitrates.
Currently available slow-release fertilizers are generally coated fertilizer granules. The fertilizer is released slowly as the coating dissolves, but once the protective coating is gone, the remaining fertilizer is all released at once.
Robert E. Sojka, director of the ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Kimberly, Idaho, and former ARS soil microbiologist James A. Entry developed the new system, which is based on ion-exchange mechanisms that they say more closely mimic natural soil processes, resulting in more consistent release of the fertilizer over time.
In December 2006, ARS announced that it was seeking a cooperative business partner to develop commercial products, particularly for lawns and turf. For further details, see http://ars.usda.gov/research/patents/patents.htm?serialnum=11504401For ARS licensing information, go to http://ars.usda.gov/business/docs.htm?docid=768.
Chemistry & Industry (www.chemind.org), the magazine of the Society of Chemical Industry, has announced the development of a pesticide with a built-in sunscreen that will prolong the effectiveness of the pesticide in the field by protecting it from ultraviolet light. A team of scientists, led by Li-Xiong Wen of the Bejing University of Chemical Technology, has developed a new type of protective capsule that allows pesticides to be exposed to sunlight for at least twice as long without degrading. The team’s research was published in the Dec. 18, 2006, issue of Pest Management Science (DOI 10.1002/ps.1301).
Increasing the effectiveness of pesticides should reduce the amount of product required, which should reduce the cost to the consumer and lower the risk of contamination to groundwater, streams and rivers.
The new product uses oil-soluble avermectin, an insecticide, but the scientists are looking at other pesticides that could be used with the technology, including water-soluble validamycin (an agricultural antibiotic that is not registered for use in the United States).
Closer to home, the Mayo Clinic is also developing safer pesticides. The English grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) and the greenbug (Schizaphis graminum) are tiny insects that cause millions of dollars in damage to crops each year. The greenbug is a particular pest of seashore paspalum and Kentucky bluegrass.
Yuan-Ping Pang, Ph.D., director of Mayo Clinic’s Computer-Aided Molecular Design Laboratory, has identified an enzyme unique to the insects that could be used as a direct target for a new insecticide that would not be toxic to humans and animals. The research was published in the October 2006 issue of Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
Pang says, “We now have a blueprint that will enable the development of a new generation of pesticides . . . Ultimately, . . . we would be able to eat apples without washing them — even though they may be covered with pesticides.”
GCM Science Editor Teresa Carson recently received a certificate of training for successful completion of the NTEP Turfgrass Evaluation Workshop at Purdue University. Carson participated in classroom sessions on how to rate plots based on density, turf quality, color and other elements. NTEP evaluators, including university professors and industry representatives, also presented field instruction to the program’s participants. The Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association reports industry sales increased to a record $15.2 billion in 2005 despite eight major hurricanes hitting the area. The 54 percent increase outperformed 2000’s sales of $9.9 billion, according to reports from the University of Florida’s IFAS economic impact study. The state’s nursery and foliage growers generated $3 billion, and nearly half of all nursery grower sales went to markets outside Florida, the reports show. Landscape installation, maintenance and design services represented more than $5 billion of the year’s sales. The rise in sales comes in the aftermath of hurricanes, which hindered 60 percent of Florida’s nursery growing operations for at least three weeks, costing the industry an estimated $2.1 billion in losses, damage and clean-up costs. |
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