Integrated pest management

An IPM boll weevil trap in a cotton field (Manning, South Carolina)

Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization defines IPM as "the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduce or minimize risks to human health and the environment. IPM emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms."[1] Entomologists and ecologists have urged the adoption of IPM pest control since the 1970s.[2] IPM is a safer pest control framework than reliance on the use of chemical pesticides, mitigating risks such as: insecticide-induced resurgence, pesticide resistance and (especially food) crop residues.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ "AGP - Integrated Pest Management". Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  2. ^ Knipling, EF (1972). "Entomology and the Management of Man's Environment". Australian Journal of Entomology. 11 (3): 153–167. doi:10.1111/j.1440-6055.1972.tb01618.x.
  3. ^ Bateman RP (2003) Rational Pesticide Use: spatially and temporally targeted application of specific products. In: Optimising Pesticide Use Ed. M. Wilson, Publ. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, UK; pp. 129-157.
  4. ^ Wright, M. G.; Hoffmann, M. P.; Kuhar, T. P.; Gardner, J.; Pitcher, S. A. (2005). "Evaluating risks of biological control introductions: A probabilistic risk-assessment approach". Biological Control. 35 (3): 338–347. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2005.02.002.
  5. ^ Charles Perrings; Mark Herbert Williamson; Silvana Dalmazzone (1 January 2000). The Economics of Biological Invasions. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84064-378-7.
  6. ^ Clercq, P.; Mason, P. G.; Babendreier, D. (2011). "Benefits and risks of exotic biological control agents". BioControl. 56 (4): 681–698. doi:10.1007/s10526-011-9372-8. S2CID 39820823.