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EPA Funds Connecticut Program to Control Pesticide Risks in Growing Pumpkins

Release Date: 10/24/2002
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1008

BOSTON - A University of Connecticut project aimed at controlling risks associated with using pesticides in growing pumpkins has received a $40,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This grant was one of two given out by EPA New England under its Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP).

In Connecticut, there is one pumpkin grown each year for every three people. Pumpkins are an important crop in all New England states and the region is third in the nation for pumpkins harvested for sale.

"This project will help pumpkin producers better manage pests without doing unnecessary environmental damage," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "Methods of Integrated Pest Management teach us that we can eliminate harmful pests without sacrificing the health of our environment, our children or ourselves."

The other PESP grant was awarded to the Maine Department of Agricultural, Food and Rural Resources to help schools in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine minimize the risk of handling pesticides in schools. The program, which will act as a national model, involves techniques of Integrated Pest Management.

EPA this month announced a total of $550,000 for Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program projects nationwide.

The University of Connecticut has also received a $30,000 grant for a two year program to reduce herbicide use in sweet and silage corn. This grant was given through EPA's Food Quality Protection Act. This grant funds a two-year project now in its second year. The research being done will apply to corn growers across New England as well as in other corn-growing regions of the country.