These descriptions below are taken from the website of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
www.epa.gov
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Principles
1. What is IPM?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally
sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of
common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive
information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the
environment. This information, in combination with available pest
control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical
means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the
environment.
The IPM approach can be applied to both agricultural and
non-agricultural settings, such as the home, garden, and workplace.
IPM takes advantage of all appropriate pest management options including,
but not limited to, the judicious use of pesticides. In contrast,
organic food production applies many of the same concepts as IPM
but limits the use of pesticides to those that are produced from natural
sources, as opposed to synthetic chemicals.
2. How do IMP programs work:
IPM is not a single pest control method but, rather, a series of pest
management evaluations, decisions and controls. In practicing IPM,
growers who are aware of the potential for pest infestation follow a
four-tiered approach. The four steps include:
*Set Action Thresholds - Before taking any pest control action, IPM
first sets an action threshold, a point at which pest populations or
environmental conditions indicate that pest control action must be
taken. Sighting a single pest does not always mean control is
needed. The level at which pests will either become an economic
threat is critical to guide future pest control decisions.
*Monitor and Identify Pests - Not all insects, weeds, and other
living organisms require control. Many organisms are innocuous, and
some are even beneficial. IPM programs work to monitor for pests and
identify them accurately, so that appropriate control decisions can be
made in conjunction with action thresholds. This monitoring and
identification removes the possibility that pesticides will be used when
they are not really needed or that the wrong kind of pesticide will be
used.
*Prevention - As a first line of pest control, IPM programs work to
manage the crop, lawn, or indoor space to prevent pests from becoming a
threat. In an agricultural crop, this may mean using cultural
methods, such as rotating between different crops, selecting
pest-resistant varieties, and planting pest-free rootstock. These
control methods can be very effective and cost-efficient and present
little to no risk to people or the environment.
*Control - Once monitoring, identification, and action thresholds
indicate that pest control is required, and preventive methods are no
longer effective or available, IPM programs then evaluate the proper
control method both for effectiveness and risk. Effective, less risky
pest controls are chosen first, including highly targeted chemicals, such
s pheromones to disrupt pest mating, or mechanical control, such as
trapping or weeding. If further monitoring, identifications and
action thresholds indicate that less risky controls are not working, then
additional pest control methods would be employed, such as targeted
spraying of pesticides. Broadcast spraying of non-specific
pesticides is a last resort.
3. Do most growers use IPM?
With these steps, IPM is best described as a continuum. Many, if not
most, agricultural growers identify their pests before spraying. A
smaller subset of growers use less risky pesticides such as
pheromones. All of these growers are on the IPM continuum. the
goal is to move growers further along the continuum to using all
appropriate IPM techniques.
4. How do you know if the food you buy is grown using IPM?
In most cases, food grown using IPM practices is not identified in
the marketplace like organic food. There is no national
certification for growers using IPM, as the United States Department of
Agriculture has developed for organic foods. Since IPM is a complex
pest control process, not merely a series of practices, it is impossible
to use one IPM definition for all foods and all areas of the
country. Many individual commodity growers, for such crop as
potatoes and strawberries, are working to define what IPM means for their
crop and region, and IPM-labeled foods are available in limited
areas. With definitions, growers could begin to market more of their
products as IPM-Grown, giving consumers another choice in their
food purchases.
|
