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HomeTopics...Gardening TipsIntegrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management for Your GardenThe gardener's dependence on pesticides has all but vanished over the past few decades as new pest-control strategies have been developed. One of the more popular methods for pest control is called integrated pest management. While it isn't a single strategy, integrated pest management utilizes a combination of pest-control strategies to monitor and control the amount of damage pests do to crops.
What Is Integrated Pest Management?The exact definition varies, but the general idea is that integrated pest management "is an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties." In other words, it's using all that people know about plants and pests to control pests in an environmentally friendly manner.
People who use integrated pest management are well aware that to completely eradicate pests isn't good for plants or the environment in general. Instead of killing off all the pests, the method controls the number of pests on plants, keeping the population below a certain threshold level. That way, the damage pests wreak on plants is manageable, and the environment is as minimally affected as possible.
How Does Integrated Pest Management Work?In a sense, integrated pest management manipulates nature in order to control pests while not causing any permanent damage to the environment. Gardeners are not restricted to any one method of pest control, with the proviso that chemical pesticides be used only as a last resort.
Integrated pest management is a time-consuming method, as it relies on the gardener to regularly inspect plants. Once the problems have been identified, the gardener is expected to utilize this information, along with information about the local weather, the pest's natural enemies, the pest's natural habitat, and so on, to regulate the pest population by using a low-impact method that hopefully works in the long run. Integrated pest management also has a high initial cost, but the long-term costs of this strategy are much lower than the continuous use of pesticides as it's designed to control the pest populations over the long haul.
Integrated Pest Management Control MethodsWith integrated pest management, the gardener must constantly inspect the garden for pests and plant diseases. Since the method utilizes all available knowledge for pest control, the more you know, the better.
Once you've discovered the problems, use a variety of strategies to control the pests. Some of the control methods include:
A Note on Chemical ControlsIntegrated pest management does utilize chemical controls, but they are rarely used. Chemical controls serve as a last resort, are used only when the pest population has exceeded the threshold level and when no other method seems to be working. When chemical controls are used, try insecticidal soaps and less toxic pesticides first to avoid affecting other plants and animals.
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