Individuals who apply pesticides (either general use or restricted use) as employees of licensed pest control businesses or public agencies are classified as commercial applicators. Such individuals must show that they are competent to apply restricted products by passing a certification examination administered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA). University of Maryland Extension and MDA work closely on pesticide applicator training. As a regulatory agency, MDA’s primary role in applicator training is developing and administering certification exams. UME takes the primary role in developing and delivering pesticide safety education to help private and commercial applicators pass MDA’s certification exams, as well as providing education to others who are not required to pass examinations but need or want to improve their knowledge and skills about using pesticides ion the safest manner.The University of Maryland has developed training materials (manuals) to be used by those seeking certification. The University also offers conferences and workshops in several specialty categories for those seeking recertification.
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Core Manual |
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Agricultural Manual |
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Ornamentals & Turf Manual |
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| Aquatic Pest Control Manual |
Certification Training
Information about Commercial Pesticide Exam Sessions is available on the MDA website.
Commercial applicators must pass a core examination plus an examination in each of the categories appropriate to the specific type of pest control he/she performs.
To prepare for the Maryland certification exam, commercial applicators should study the Maryland Core Manual and the appropriate category manual(s) from the Pesticide Applicator Training Series. All Maryland exam questions are based on the information contained in these manuals.
The following Maryland Pesticide Applicator manuals are available through University of Maryland Extension as described in the section below:
- Core Manual
- Agricultural Manual
- Ornamentals & Turf Manual
- Aquatic Pest Control Manual
Commercial applicators may purchase any of the above manuals in the following ways:
- CREDIT CARD: Order on-line through the University of Maryland College of Agriculture & Natural Resources.
- CHECK or MONEY ORDER: Send a check or money order payable to University of Maryland to:
Administrative Assistant** Please be sure to include: **
Department of Entomology
4112 Plant Sciences Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
For questions, please call Avis Koeiman at 301-405-3913.
- the name(s) of the publication(s) you need,
- your name and telephone number
- and your shipping address
For information on where to obtain manuals to help prepare for certification in other categories, visit the Maryland Department of Agriculture website.
Recertification Training
Commercial applicators must recertify each year. For applicators who choose to recertify through continuing education, the University of Maryland Extension offers annual commercial applicator recertification training as follows:
| The recertification conferences and workshops listed here are hosted by University of Maryland Extension and approved by the Maryland Department of Agriculture for the categories noted. | |||
| Event | Description | Date | Contact |
| Interstate Pest Management Conference | Recertification conference for commercial pesticide applicators in structural, industrial weed, space fumigation, or public health pest control | Dr. Nancy Breisch 301.405.3911 |
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| Interstate Ornamental Plant Management Conference | Recertification conference for commercial pesticide applicators in ornamental categories |
Ms. Avis Koeiman, Administrative Assistant akoeiman@umd.edu 301-405-3913 |
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| Maryland Agricultural Pesticide Conferences | Recertification conference for commercial ag applicators |
Eastern Shore:
Mr. James Lewis, Extension Agent, Ag. and Natural Resources jlewis2@umd.edu 410-479-4030 Central and Western Maryland: Mr. Dave Martin, Extension Agent, Ag. and Natural Resources dmarti@umd.edu 410-666-1022 |
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| Pesticide Safety Conference | Recertification conference for commercial pesticide applicators in right-of-way, aquatic, forest, and industrial weed categories |
Ms. Avis Koeiman, Administrative Assistant akoeiman@umd.edu 301-405-3913 |
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