The EPA sees transgenic crops as being in the public good for the reduction in insecticide use. The agency is concerned, however, that with large scale inception of the transgenic crops (more than 25 million acres in corn in 2005) resistance will develop in the insect populations. The agency would like to combine remotely sensed imagery with their current resistance development models to locate areas at risk for resistance development and then inspect these locations for resistant insect populations.

This project is enlisting grower cooperators to study resistance development in a production environment using intensive scouting and remotely sensed imagery. the imagery will be collected using a hyperspectral sensor mounted in a fixed wing aircraft. Imagery will be used to guide scouts to locations within fields that may have infestation for resistance analysis. Any resistance development will be followed intensively by EPA and the transgenic seed registrants. Remedial approaches to identified problems will be assisted by using information from this monitoring program.

This web page is intended to serve as a communication tool for the project growers, scouts, and EPA. Posted on grower web pages will be imagery, other geographic layers of interest (soils, elevation), and scouting information for each field in the study. Growers will have the opportunity to respond to the imagery and scouting reports directly by visiting the pages. For more information on the project contact John Glaser at the EPA.