Integrated Pest Management :: essays research papers

Integrated Pest ManagementIntegrated curse word management (IPM) is a recently developed technology for pest curtail that is aimed at achieving the want control while reducing the use ofpesticides. To accomplish this, various combinations of chemical, biological,and bodily controls are industrious. In the past, pesticides were all too oftenapplied routinely whether needed or not. With IPM, pest populations as well as advantageous parasite and predator populations are monitored to determine whetherthe pests actually present a serious problem that needs to be treated. Ifproperly and extensively employed, IPM efficiency reduce pesticide use by as much as50 percent, while at the same time improving pest control. If this stopping point wereachieved, the environmental problems would be minimized, and significantbenefits would result for farmers and society as a whole.IPM coordinates economically and environmentally acceptable methods of pestcontrol with judicious and borderline use of toxic pesticides. IPM programs assesslocal conditions, including climate, ramble characteristics, the biology of thepest species, and soil quality, to determine the best method of pest control.Tactics employed include better tillage to prevent soil erosion and entreeof beneficial plant louses that eat harmful species. Many pests that are attached tocrop residues can be eliminated by plowing them underground. Simple paper orplastic barriers placed around fruit trees deter insects, which can besides beattracted to light traps and destroyed. Weeds can be controlled by ranchgrass, leaf, or black plastic mulch. Weeds also may be pulled or hoed from thesoil.Many biological controls are also effective. Such insect pests as the Europeancorn borer, and the Japanese beetle, have been controlled by introducing theirpredators and parasites. Wasps that pit on fruit-boring insect larvae are noworganism commercially bred and released in California orchards. The many hundredsof species of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and nematodes that parasitizepest insects and weeds are now being investigated as selective control agents.Another area of biological control is breeding host plants to be pest resistant,making them less inclined to attack by fungi and insects. The use of sex pheromonesis an effective bank bill for luring and trapping insects. Pheromones have beensynthesized for the Mediterranean fruit fly, the melon fly, and the Oriental