What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a process that you can use to solve pest problems while minimising risks to people and the environment. IPM can be used to control all types of pests anywhere — in urban, agricultural, wild and natural areas.
Definition of IPM
IPM is an ecosystem strategy that focuses on the long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of methods such as biological control, habitat manipulation, changing cultural practices and the use of resistant varieties. Pesticides are used only after monitoring shows that they are needed in accordance with established guidelines, and treatment is carried out with the aim of removing only the target organism. Pest control materials are selected and applied in such a way as to minimise risks to human health, beneficial and non-target organisms, as well as the environment.
What is a pest?
Pests are organisms that damage plants in our fields and gardens, landscapes or wild areas, or impede them from growing, or cause damage. Pests also include organisms that affect human or animal health. Pests can transmit diseases or just cause inconvenience. The pest can be a plant (weed), a vertebrate (bird, rodent or other mammal), an invertebrate (insect, mite or snail), a nematode, a pathogen (bacteria, virus or fungus) causing disease, or other undesirable organism that can harm water quality, wildlife or other parts of the ecosystem.
How does IPM work?
IPM focuses on the long-term prevention of pests and the damage they cause by managing the ecosystem.
With IPM, you take measures and work ahead of time so that pests do not turn into a problem. For example, by growing a healthy crop that can withstand pest attacks, using disease-resistant varieties or, elementarily, sealing cracks in the room so that insects or rodents cannot penetrate it. IPM implies measures that need to be taken instead of just destroying the pests that you see right now. Using IPM means that you will investigate the environmental factors that affect the pest and its ability to increase the population. Armed with this information, it is possible to create unfavourable conditions for the pest.
With IPM, monitoring and correct identification of harmful organisms helps you decide whether management is required.
Monitoring means checking your field, landscape, forest, building or other site to determine which pests are present, how many of them or what damage they have caused. The correct identification of a pest is the key to understanding whether a pest can become a problem and to determining the best management strategy.
After monitoring and studying information about the pest, its biology and environmental factors, you can decide whether the level of damage is acceptable or it is a problem that requires control. If it is needed, this information will also help you choose the most effective management methods and the best time to use them.
IPM programs combine management approaches for greater efficiency
The most effective and long-term way to control pests is to use a combination of methods that work better together than separately. Pest control approaches are often grouped into the following categories.
Biological control
Biological control is the use of natural enemies — predators, parasites, pathogens and competitors — to control pests and their damage. Invertebrates, plant pathogens, nematodes, weeds and vertebrates have many natural enemies.
Cultural control
Cultural control is a method that reduces acclimatisation, reproduction, distribution and survival of pests. For example, changing irrigation practices can reduce pest problems, as too much water can cause root disease and weed growth.
Mechanical and physical control
Mechanical and physical control measures kill pests directly, block pests or make the environment unsuitable for them. Rodent traps are examples of mechanical control. Physical control measures include mulch to control weeds, steam sterilisation of the soil to control diseases, or barriers such as nets to protect against birds or insects.
Chemical control
Chemical control is the use of pesticides. In IPM, pesticides are used only when necessary and in combination with other approaches for more effective and long-term control. Pesticides are selected and applied in such a way as to minimise their possible harm to humans, non-target organisms and the environment. With IPM, you will use the most selective pesticide that will do its job and be the safest for other organisms and for air, soil and water quality. You will use pesticides in baits instead of sprays or spray several plants instead of the whole plot.
IPM is based on scientific research
IPM programs
These IPM principles and practices combine to create various IPM programs. Although each situation is individual, six main components are common to all IPM programs:
1. Pest identification;
2. Monitoring and assessment of the number of harmful organisms and damage;
3. Recommendations for management actions;
4. Prevention of pest problems;
5. Using a combination of biological, cultural, physico-mechanical and chemical management tools;
6. An assessment of the effect of pest control after the action is done.