Integrated Pest Management

There are various ways of eliminating pests in a farm. The common one being the use of  pesticides which are considered reliable. The problem with pesticide use is that they cause pollution to the environment as most are non-biodegradable.The residual effect of some pesticides may also be too harmful for human consumption. This is where IPM comes in.



Integrated pest Management is a strategy to prevent and suppress pests with minimum impact on human health, the environment and non-target organism. It involves monitoring  pests numbers and choosing a combination of strategies to keep the population below economic injury level( level at which pests which cause economic losses if population is not controlled.)


Pests are a menace on the farm as they interfere with quality of produce and eventually cause monetary loss. IPM is environmentally friendly and at the same time saves on cost used in purchase of pesticides. IPM ensures an integration of methods  that discourage pesticide use . All pesticide use and related methods are kept at a minimal. This will reduce detrimental effects on humans and the environment.

The principles of IPM include:
Acceptable pest level~ IPM develops  acceptable pest levels  called action threshold  upon which control methods would be applied if they are crossed.

Preventive cultural practices~ disease resistant crops are planted and maintenance of a healthy crop field is of essence.

Monitoring of crop through inspection, identification and recording of pest levels.

Application of mechanical control where hand picking or traps are done when pests reach acceptable levels.

Use of biological control which is Eco-friendly such parasites and predators.

Pesticides are used in a responsible manner  that is in a specific time in a pest life cycle.

Feel free to comment and give your suggestion.


Source: http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/factsheets/ipm.htm