The UC Integrated Pest Management Program is among the organizations to be honored by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation as 2010 "IPM Innovators," according to a DPR news release.

The annual honor is presented to businesses and organizations for their efforts to control insects, weeds, rodents and other pests with a combination of natural and preventive strategies and pesticides less toxic than traditional treatments.

DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam will present the IPM Innovator Awards at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Sierra Hearing Room on the second floor of the California Environmental Protection Agency building in Sacramento.

The UC IPM award is shared with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The two organizations defined and clarified effective IPM practices for a wide range of commodities and provided stakeholders with this information and incentives to increase their adoption and implementation, the news release said.

Examples of the partnership’s efforts include development of year-round IPM programs for 19 different crops. These programs help to reduce pesticides in water runoff and volatile organic compound pesticide emissions that contribute to smog.