BENEFITS
OF USING IPM
Control pests in ways that maximize
the profitability of crop production while minimizing any potential harm to
human health or environmental quality.
Helps producers select and manage
pesticides in a manner that can delay or eliminate the development of pesticide
resistance.
Helps maintain long term quality and
productivity of the soil and other resources, helps protect water resources
from pesticide contamination, and addresses consumers’ concerns about food
safety and pesticides.
HOW
TO USE IPM PRINCIPLES
It is important to realize that IPM
is a philosophy or way of thinking about pest control rather than a set of
standard practices.
3 S
in IPM – Smart, Sensible & Sustainable
- SMART:
Create safer and healthier learning environment by managing pests
- SENSIBLE:
Practical strategies used
- SUSTAINABLE:
Emphasis is on prevention, which makes it economically
advantageous.
There are five general principles to
implement any successful IPM program.
Principle
No. 1: No Silver Bullet
There is no single, best way to
control any pest. Over reliance on any method almost always has undesirable
economic or ecological results.
What
To Do:
All available pest control tools
should be considered, especially cultural methods and biological controls.
Principle
No. 2: Treat Causes of Pest Outbreaks, Not Symptoms
Stop gap control measures, such as
application of pesticides that kill pests after infestations occur, do not
solve pest problems in the long run.
What
To Do:
It is essential to learn about pest
biology, especially environmental conditions that affect pest invasion and
survival.
Principle
No. 3: Pest Presence Does Not Mean a Pest Problem
Reduce pests only to levels that do
not cause economic damage.
What
To Do:
Pesticides should be applied only if
pest infestations exceed action Thresholds
Principle
No. 4: If You Kill the Natural Enemies, You
Inherit Their Work Naturally.
Biological control agents help keep
many pest populations at levels that are not damaging.
What
To Do:
Induce natural predators population,
planting beneficial plants, selection of pesticides to prevent elimination of
natural predators.
Principle
No. 5: Just in Time vs. Just in Case
Pest sampling and forecasting
methods determine pest type and number.
What
To Do:
Every field should be regularly
monitored (scouted) for weeds, insects, diseases, and nematodes
ECONOMIC
INJURY LEVELS AND ECONOMIC THRESHOLDS
An IPM program uses economic injury levels (EIL) and economic
thresholds (ETh),
which are numeric guidelines that
identify when pesticide use is needed. The EIL is
formally defined as the break even
pest density. The economic threshold is the time to
take control action to prevent the
pest population from increasing beyond the EIL.
Non-Economic
Pests
Non economic pests are those that
consistently remain below economic levels.
Occasional
Pests
Occasional pests are those species
that normally remain below the EIL but sporadically exceed the threshold
levels, perhaps 1 year in every 3 or 4.
Severe
Pests
Severe pests are the most difficult
species to manage. These include many weeds and diseases that occur at high
levels every year and cause major damage unless controlled.
FACTORS
AFFECTING PESTS POPULATION
- Climate,
weather and crop grown – all crop have natural pest that become
problematic if conditions are
optimal
- Crop
and bio-diversity (habitat to pest predators and parasites)
- Soil
fertility in enhancing crop resistance to pests
- Preventive
and control measures taken.
- Plant
health: stressed or weak plants are more susceptible to pests and disease.
PEST
SCOUTING
A key principle of IPM is that pesticides should be
used only when field examination or scouting shows that a pest infestation
exceeds the economic threshold.
Rule 1: Examine Every Field
Rule 2: Sample Randomly
Rule 3: Sample Across the Entire Field
Rule 4: Take Enough Samples
Rule 5: Keep Records of Scouting Data and Management
Actions
