The Integrated Pest Management Strategy

The management of insect pests rarely relies on a single control practice; usually a variety of tactics are integrated to maintain pests at acceptable levels. The goal of integrated pest management is not to eliminate all pests; some pests are tolerable and essential so that their natural enemies remain in the crop. Rather, the aim is to reduce pest populations to less than damaging numbers. The control tactics used in integrated pest management include pest resistant or tolerant plants, and cultural, physical, mechanical, biological, and chemical control. Applying multiple control tactics minimizes the chance that insects will adapt to any one tactic. The definition for integrated pest management most relevant to this guide comes from Flint and van den Bosch (1981): "An ecologically based pest control strategy that relies heavily on natural mortality factors and seeks out control tactics that disrupt these factors as little as possible.

Ecological basis

Integrated pest management requires an understanding of the ecology of the cropping system, including that of the pests, their natural enemies, and the surrounding environment. As discussed previously, knowledge about the ecological interrelationships between insects and their environment is critical to effective pest management. This guide emphasizes interrelationships between pest species and their natural enemies.

Economic threshold and sampling

The decision to use an insecticide, or take some other action, against an insect infestation requires an understanding of the level of damage or insect infestation a crop can tolerate without an unacceptable economic loss. The level of infestation or damage at which some action must be taken to prevent an economic loss is referred to as the "economic or action threshold." Action thresholds are available for many vegetable crops. Ideally, these thresholds adjust for changes in market prices, stage of crop growth, cost of pesticides, etc., but in reality most are based on fixed infestation or damage levels.

To estimate the severity of pest infestations, the crop or garden must be sampled. Sampling may entail examining plants and recording the number of pests or amount of damage observed, or traps may be used to capture the pest species to estimate pest abundance. Sampling is conducted at regular intervals throughout the season or during critical stages of crop growth. These sampling techniques, used either alone or in combination, estimate how close the infestation or damage level is to the economic threshold.

Taken from:

Hoffmann, M.P. and Frodsham, A.C. (1993) Natural Enemies of Vegetable Insect Pests. Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 63 pp.

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