Methods of IPM
IPM programs employ a variety of methods and technologies in order to achieve successful pest control while reducing economic, ecological, and human health concerns. The following sections discuss IPM techniques.
Cultural Restraints
Cultural controls entail altering the pest's biological and physical habitat in order to make it less attractive. Crop rotations, sanitation, irrigation, and water management are all examples.
Biological Containment
Biological control is the process of suppressing a pest population by the use of live creatures such as parasitoids (parasites), predators, or diseases. Lady Beetles are often used as predators in biological control. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a well-known insect pathogen that is used in a variety of IPM applications.
Application of Resistant Cultivars
This strategy is the adoption of cultivars of plants that have hereditary traits that protect the plants against pest assault. The adoption of resistant cultivars is critical in the management of plant pathogens, nematodes, and insect pests.
Modification of Behavior
Behavioral modification techniques employ visual, pharmacological, or auditory cues to alter or interrupt typical pest behavior. The scarecrow is a classic example, as are the current applications of sex pheromone mating disruption for insect pest management.
Controls, Both Physical and Mechanical
Physical controls entail erecting physical barriers against the pests or manipulating the temperature or composition of the air to kill the arachnids, insects or pests. Mechanical control entails the removal or eradication of pest organisms via the use of physical labor or machines.
Pesticides
Pesticide usage involves careful selection and prudent use of pesticides that pose minimal harm to human health, non-targeted species, and the environment. Pesticides are defined under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as any chemical or mixture of chemicals used for the purpose of preventing, killing, repelling, or mitigating insects, rodents, nematodes, fungus, or weeds, or any other forms of life designated as pests. Additionally, any chemical or mixture of chemicals intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant is considered a pesticide.
Regulatory Control
Regulatory control refers to state and federal rules that aim to keep pest organisms from spreading.
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