Ecological Basis of Pest Management

Lecture - 3

ECOLOGICAL BASES OF PEST MANAGEMENT:
  • CONCEPTS OF IPM
  • Avoidance of economic damage with minimum affects on the environment
  • IPM: In simple language IPM is the utilization of all possible control tactics to suppress the pest population below economic injury level with minimum adverse impacts on environment.
  • Economic Injury Level (EIL): It is the minimum pest population which causes the economic damage.
  • Economic damage: The damage caused by the pest to a crop which justifies the cost of control or in other words it is the damage equal to the cost of control.
  • Economic Threshold Level: It is the pest population where control measures should be initiated to prevent the pest population in reaching the EIL.
Basic necessities in IPM:
  • Measurement of pest population intensity.
  • Determining the influence of natural enemies on the pest population
  • Crop loss assessment by the pest
  • Monitoring of pest population for decision making.

COMPONENTS OF IPM:
  • Cultural control
    • Tillage
    • Planting and harvesting time
    • Sanitation
    • Plant diversity
    • Trap cropping
    • Crop rotation
    • Nutrient and water management
  • Mechanical control
    • Hand picking
    • Exclusion by screens and barriers
    • Clipping and pruning
  • Physical control
    • Hot and cold treatment
    • Light trapping
  • Legal control
    • Legislation for foreign quarantine to prevent the introduction of new pests from abroad.
    • Legislation for domestic quarantine to prevent the spread of established pests within country or a particular state.
    • Legislation for notified campaigns of control against pests.
    • Legislation to prevent the adulteration and mishandling of insecticides or other devices used for the control of pests.
  • Biological control
    • Predators: Lady bird beetles, syrphid flies, lace wings, etc.
    • Parasitoids:Trichogramma spp, Apanteles spp, Bracon sp, etc
    • Bacteria: Bacillus thuringiensis
    • Viruses: NPVs and GVs have been successfully used.
    • Fungi:
  • Beauveria bassiana: Against beetles and caterpillars
  • Metarhizium anisopliae: Against beetles and caterpillars
  • Nomuraea rileyi: Against caterpillars
  • Verticillium lecanii: Against sucking pests
  • Paecelomyces sp: Against sucking pests
  • Chemical control
  • Semiochemicals
  • Other components:
    • Growing resistant cultivars
    • Use of sex pheromones for monitoring, mass trapping, mating disruption and auto confusing the target pests.
    • Use of botanical pesticides especially neem based insecticides.
    • Need based, safe and judicious use of synthetic pesticides.
Advantages of IPM:
  • It provides sustainable control of the pest and also adds to sustainable crop productivity.
  • It is economically viable and is affordable by marginal farmers.
  • It is environmentally safe.
  • Less health hazards.
  • Social and political stability
  • Quality produce with minimum pesticide residues and hence will enhance the export of agricultural commodities
Last modified: Wednesday, 7 March 2012, 6:14 AM