What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
July 21, 2022
IPM, or integrated pest management, is a strategy for solving pest issues while reducing threats to humans and the environment. IPM may be used to manage all types of pests in any environment, including urban, agricultural, and wildland or natural environments.
IPM is a flexible, dynamic approach that must be updated on a regular basis when information from management practice results is obtained. IPM programs have a track record of considerably decreasing pesticide hazards while enhancing environmental quality, health, and welfare.
Some of the advantages of an integrated strategy:
- – Encourages strong structures and healthy plants
- – Encourages the use of bio-based pest control approaches that are both sustainable and environmentally friendly.
- – Reduces the environmental risk associated with pest management by encouraging the use of more environmentally friendly pest control methods.
- – Reduces the possibility of pollution of the air and ground water.
- – Reduces the impact of pest control actions on non-target species.
- – Reduces the demand for pesticides by employing a variety of pest management strategies.
- – Reduces or eliminates pesticide residue concerns Reduces or eliminates re-entry interval constraints
- – Reduces pesticide exposure among workers, tenants, and the general public.
Integrated Pest Management Methods
- – Biological control
- – Physical/mechanical control
- – Cultural control
- – Chemical Control
Biological control
It means a normal method of eradicating pests as seen in nature. Predators destroy their prey, which harms crops; for example, ladybugs lower aphid populations. Parasitoids, pathogens, and herbivores are also used in this manner. It is carried out by either increasing the predator population in their natural environment or importing helpful animals from other locations. Exploiting allelopathic and pest-killing qualities is also beneficial in this regard.
Physical/Mechanical Control
This Involves:
- – Tilling to kill weeds or eggs/larvae.
- – Covering/mulching to prevent weed development in the lack of sunlight; manual removal/picking out.
- – Steaming soils to remove dangerous bacteria that cause plant problems.
- – Building fences around fields or putting traps as natural barriers for wild animals.
Cultural Control
This involves:
- – Crop rotation, which is used when alternative crops are ineffective against pests that harm other plant groupings Rodents, for example, wreak havoc on grain harvests, while birds and snails wreak havoc on strawberries, and potato bugs wreak havoc on potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants. Pests will leave for more profitable environments if the habitat is unsuitable and there are no desired nutrients.
- – Irrigation changes: high water saturation causes root infections.
- – Plant conservation/quarantine is the isolation of a crop until it is old enough to withstand insect attacks.
Chemical Control
Pesticides are used when the above-mentioned approaches fail to effectively battle the invasion or when their application is impossible due to unforeseen circumstances. It is important to reduce their impact on non-targeted species (people, animals, and crops), to guarantee a long-lasting effect without establishing pest resistance, and to treat only the problem areas, rather than the everywhere.
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