Agriculture Notes

IPM – Integrated Pest Management IPM involves the use of not one but several different methods of pest control

IPM Goals

• Select a combination of nonchemical methods and, if necessary, less harmful chemicals for pest control

• Not to eliminate pests, but instead to keep pests populations below a economic/action threshold

• Economic/action threshold – the level of infestation or damage that a crop can tolerate without an unacceptable economic loss

IPM techniques

• Resistant varieties – varieties of crops that are resistant to attack by a specific pest. Resistant varieties can be produced through artificial selection or genetic engineering. Example – apples that have been bred to be resistant to apple scab

Apples afflicted with apple scab

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu

IPM Techniques

• Beneficial insects – using natural predators to control a pest’s population. Example – parasitic wasps

• http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/bugs-animals/bees-and-wasps/wasp_parasitic/

• Microbial pesticides – using microscopic organisms to control a pest’s populations

Example – Milky sporehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhJORk-UX-k

IPM techniques

• Birth control, example – Sterilizing male insects. When the male insects mate with untreated females, the females lay eggs that do not hatch

• Biochemical pesticides – naturally occurring substances that control pests by nontoxic methods. Example – Japanese beetle traps work because they contain a chemical that smells like a female beetle

Japanese Beetle Traps are baited with sex attractants called pheromones

http://www.bhg.com/

IPM Techniques

• Cultivation practices – timing the planting and harvesting of crops to reduce damage caused by pests

• Synthetic pesticides – IPM allows for the use of synthetic pesticides. IPM does not rely on synthetic pesticides and attempts to use less dangerous/toxic pesticides

• Computer programs – Data driven application of pesticides

Pros of IPM

• -Biological controls are usually cheaper than chemical controls.• -Using IPM is often not as environmentally harmful as using pesticides alone.• -Biological controls often kill only the target insect (and not the “innocent” ones that may be beneficial to humans).• -Using IPM does not encourage the development of resistant pests as much as using chemical pesticides alone. -Using IPM is a more sustainable form of agriculture

Cons of IPM

• Using an IPM program requires a greater understanding of the pests and the environment than using pesticides alone

• Often involves significantly more time and money than using pesticides alone

• Natural enemies of pests can sometimes become pests themselves