Location: Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Disease Research
Project Number: 3022-32000-025-031-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 1, 2026
End Date: Mar 31, 2030
Objective:
Kansas State University (Cooperator) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) desire to enter into this Agreement for the purpose of supporting research to be carried out at the Cooperator facilities. ARS desires the Cooperator to provide goods and services necessary to carry out research of mutual interest to the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) and the Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit (FABADRU) in Manhattan, KS, which is to (1) characterize and formulate the next generation of insecticides using nanoparticles, (2) evaluate active ingredients, and (3) develop novel methods that incorporate existing and new products to create new tools for an integrated pest management plan to protect American agriculture.
The objective is to define, optimize, and synergize nanoparticles and new active ingredients as insecticides with novel methods of deployment that take advantage of the insects natural behaviors to reduce the abundance and movement of significant agricultural insects such as mosquitoes, biting flies, ticks, as well as crop and stored product pests. The biodegradable nanoparticles and new active ingredients will consist of two parts, the outer surface coating, also known as the cap and an inner core. Either part can be insecticidal, an attractant, or used as a shield to reduce the insecticidal active ingredient from environmental or biological degradation. Specific insect targets will determine the optimal formulation of the particles and the methods used to deploy them with the objective of maximizing impact while reducing the impact on the environment and animal health.
Approach:
The USDA and Kansas State University are engaged in research addressing the development of novel nanoparticle-based pesticides and other novel active ingredients, which are vital to US farmers due to the impact of arthropods on Americans and their animals and crops. New biodegradable nanoparticle technology and deployment methods can be applied in many ways to agricultural pests depending on (1) formulation, (2) active ingredients and attractants, and (3) reactive nanoparticles. This project will target significant agricultural pests to reduce their populations below an economic damage or epidemic transmission threshold in the case of pathogen transmission. Under the authority of 7 USC 3319a, ARS desires to acquire goods and services from the Cooperator to further agricultural research supporting the independent interests of both parties.
(1) Formulation will include creating the nanoparticles or other insecticides using various solvents and optimizing how to get the cores or coatings to have the maximum and a quantifiable amount of active ingredient in them. This testing will be done in the laboratory with scalability and cost as vital considerations. (2) Active ingredients will be the insecticidal materials used in the core or coating. These can include organic, inorganic, synthetic, and natural product insecticidal active ingredients and how they synergize with the attractants that can also be placed in the core or coating. Currently evaluated nanoparticle formulation and active ingredients include silver, copper, Spinosad, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), neonicotinids, and some natural products. Attractants can be to the target insect pest or for animal or plant update for systemic application of the nanoparticles in the host to protect against feeding insects. Tested attractants have included maiz, sorghum, and wheat. (3) Deployment is how the nanoproducts will be used in the field. Various methods will be explored including systemic treatments and topical treatments as well as environmental treatments. Novel methods should include hydrogels or other types of baits as well as absorption by the organism to be protected, environmental treatments, or other novel methods that may be developed to optimize deployment and efficacy of these products for the target insects. (4) Reactive nanoparticles are AI cores and a coating (or coatings) that react to environmental stimulus to open and expose the insecticidal core. One example was combining carbon nano spheres with neonicotinid pesticides. The spheres protect the active ingredient from environmental degradation which extends the duration of activity to 45 days. Similar coatings that respond to specific environmental stimuli can be used to protect products but open when exposed to a change in pH, ultraviolet light, moisture, or biotic processes such as digestion in the insects all of which will result in exposure of the AI core. Several layers of reactive coatings may be evaluated.
The environmental fate of the particles will be tracked to reduce environmental contamination and non-target insect affects. These four areas will be combined in laboratory, green house, and field trials.