The
Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) Toolbox
Vincent J. Mannino,
County Extension
Director – Fort Bend
IPM is:
A pest management philosophy that
utilizes all suitable pest management
techniques and methods to keep pest
populations below economically injurious
levels.
Each pest management technique must be
environmentally sound and compatible
with producer objectives.
6 Steps of IPM
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Inspect and Investigate
Identify and Learn
Monitor
Choose Control Methods
Evaluate
Educate
Learning the
 Create
an understanding of IPM
 Importance of IPM to Producers
 Importance of IPM to the environment
 Importance of IPM to human health & safety
 What are IPM strategies
 Advantages and limitations to IPM
Why Study & Practice IPM?

Why is it that a new approach to pest
management is needed?
◉Pesticide became popular during WWII
◉“Pesticide Treadmill” of 1960’s – 1970’s
◉
Pesticide resistance
◉ Secondary pest outbreaks
◉ Environmental concerns
◉IPM concept “reborn” in the late 1970’s
“A pest-management strategy..”
◉ Recognizes there is no “magic bullet” in pest control.
◉ Dependence on any one pest management method
will have undesirable effects.
◉ Determine and correct the cause of the pest problem.
◉ Understanding Pest biology & ecology is essential.
◉ Manipulate the environment to the crop’s advantage
and to the detriment of the pest.
◉ Recognizes that eradication of a pest is seldom
necessary or even desirable, and generally not possible.
◉ Some damage is unavoidable & acceptable.
IPM is a continuum, not an end.
Good
Fair
Better
Poor
Best
“Utilizes all suitable pest
management tactics……..”
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Cultural
Host Plant Resistance
Mechanical
Sanitary
Pesticides
◉ Man-made
◉ Natural
◉ Biological
NOTE: Some
tactics fall
Into several
categories.
Should Pesticides be used in an
IPM Program?

Pesticides can to be used in an IPM
program, however only as a last resort and
of course in a manner that is legal.
 Pesticides are to be used when there is no
risk of environmental damage or when
benefits outweigh the risks. Use pesticides
only when other control practices aren’t
available, economical or practical.
STEP #1 – Inspect & Investigate

Must monitor pest populations
in the field.
◉ Identify the pest
◉ Compare pest population and the
economic threshold
◉ Crop stage and preventable loss
◉ What life stage is susceptible to a
pesticide?
STEP #2 – Identify & Learn

Study and learn the identity of the
pest
 Study and learn the life cycle of
the pest
 Determine what it eats
 Where does it live?
 Determine the stage of the pest
that is most easy to “control”
 Determine if beneficial are present
that might be harmed in the
“control” process of the pest
What makes a pest tick?
Weeds - ID is Key!

If you want to get rid of weeds, you must know how to
identify them and understand their life cycles.
Life Cycles:
• Biennial - Survives for
2 growing seasons
• Perennial - Survives for
many years.
• Annual - Survives only
one season.
•Winter annual
•Summer annual
12
Weeds – ID is Key!
Categories of Weeds
Grass
Broadleaf
Sedge
13
Diseases – ID is Key!
Categories of Disease Agents

Disease Agents cause disease in plants
and animals. They include:
•
Bacteria
•
Fungi
•
Viruses
Disease
14
Fire Blight is a
bacterial
disease of fruit
trees.
Insects – ID is Key!
Types of Metamorphosis
No Metamorphosis
Silverfish
15
Gradual Metamorphosis
16
Incomplete Metamorphosis
17
Complete Metamorphosis
18
STEP #3 – Monitor the Pest

Monitor the life cycle of the
pest
 Determine the level of
damage
 Pre-determine what control
methods might work better
 Be ready for anything:
◉ Change in whether
◉ The discovery of beneficial
◉ Equipment issues
STEP #4 – Choose the Best
Control Method
Habitat Modification
garden sanitation
clean the tools
employ good cultural
practices
remove food & shelter
Physical Methods
mechanical trapping
remove by hand
use barriers, mulches, etc.
pest proof barriers
strong spray of water
Shred, cultivate, etc….
Biological Controls
encourage beneficials
“seed” beneficials
employ trap plants
Pesticides
least poisonous
pest specific
“Best Control” Methods
are broken down into:
Cultural
2. Mechanical
3. Natural/Biological
4. Chemical
1.
1. “Cultural Controls”

Agricultural practices that are
designed to:
◉ Optimize growing conditions for the
crop.
◉
◉
◉
◉
Soil testing, fertilizers & compost
Recommended varieties
Planting times and spacing
Mulching, irrigation/drainage, etc…
◉ Crop Rotation
◉ Trap Cropping
◉ Create unfavorable conditions for
the pest
2. “Mechanical Control”
 Uses
machinery and/or
other tools to control pests
◉ Tillage
◉ Shredding
◉ Physical barriers
◉ Solarization
◉ Trapping methods
What is Sanitary Control?
A
form of Mechanical control
 Methods to avoid introducing a
pest into a field
◉ Use proper plant spacing
◉ Keep weeds down
◉ Get rid of clutter
◉ Cleaning field equipment
◉ Planting certified seed
◉ Quarantines
4. “Natural Control”
◉Enhancement of naturally
occurring pest management
methods. The promotion
of:
◉
Beneficial insects
◉ habitats for beneficials
◉ using cover crops
◉ Beneficial organisms
Neochetina - the
key to the biological
control of hyacinth.
What is Biological Control?
A
form of Natural control
 Manipulation of biological
organism to control pests
◉ Release of predators/parasites/disease
◉ Can be time consuming, expensive and difficult
3 egg cases
for $16.50
Bt for larvae control
Phorid fly
for fire ants
Flea Beetles
What is Host Plant Resistance?

A form of Natural control
 Manipulating the crop to
withstand or tolerate pests
◉ Natural breeding method
◉ Genetically modified plants
◉
◉
Not a permanent method of control
Examples:
◉ Verticillium wilt resistant tomatoes
◉ Nematodes resistant tomatoes
◉ White-flowered squash?????
Conducive
Environment
“Chemical Control”
Also known as ‘man-made’ pesticides
ʘ Pesticides may be:
ʘ
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
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Broad-spectrum or targeted
Contact killers, plant systemics, growth regulators
Granular, liquid, powdered, baits
All pesticides fall into one of the three classes:
1. Class I is Danger/Poison
2. Class II is Warning, and
3. Class III is Caution
*** If a pesticide is warranted, use the least toxic pesticide
to be effective in controlling the pest
PESTICIDE TOXICITY CATEGORIES
Hazard
Indicator
1. – Danger
&/or Poison
Oral LD50
Up to 50 mg/kg 50-500 mg/kg
>500 mg/kg
Inhalation
LC50
Up to .2 mg/kg
.2-2 mg/kg
>2 mg/L
Dermal LD50
Up to 200
mg/kg
200-2000
mg/kg
> 2,000 mg/kg
Eye Effects
Corrosive
Persistent
irritation
Reversible
irritation
Skin Effects
Corrosive
Severe
irritation
Moderate
irritation
2. - Warning 3. - Caution
TOXICITY OF SOME MATERIALS
Material Acute Oral LD50 (rat) in mg/kg (see above)
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MORE TOXIC
Harvester ant venom 0.66
EXTREMELY TOXIC (but "organic")
Paper wasp venom 2.4
Honey bee venom 2.8
Yellow jacket venom 3.5
Nicotine 10
Toxaphene 29
Gasoline 50
Fipronil 95 (see Termidor below)
Diazinon® 100
Caffeine 200
Pyrethrums 200 to 2,600 (more below)
Sevin® 650
Aspirin 1,200
Malathion® 1,375
Household bleach 2,000
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TimBor® 2,500 and at 5% is 50,000
Borax 2,500
Table Salt------------ 3,320 --------------Boric Acid 3,500
Baking Soda 4,200
DeltaDust 5,050
d-Limonene (the active ingredient in
orange oil)
5,300
Grain Alcohol 14,000
Sugar 30,000
Niban® 60,000+
Termidor® (as 0.06% Fipronil spray)
3,252,936 = about 60 Gal/Kg for an
adult
LESS TOXIC
Q - What Kills a Pest?
A – A Pesticide!
Types:
 Algaecides are used for killing algae.
 Defoliants cause plants to drop their leaves.
 Disinfectants control germs and microbes.
 Fungicides are used to control fungus (molds, mildew, rust...)
 Herbicides kill or inhibit the growth plants, aka weeds.
 Insecticides are used to control insects.
 Insect Growth Regulators disrupt the growth and
reproduction of insects.
 Miticides control mites that feed on plants and animals.
More pesticides….
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Molluscicides are designed to control slugs & snails.
Ovicides are used to control eggs of insects and mites.
Pheromones are biologically active chemicals used to attract
insects or disrupt their mating behavior. The ratio of chemicals
in the mixture is often species-specific.
Plant Growth Regulators are used to alter the growth of
plants. For example, they may induce or delay flowering.
Repellents are designed to repel unwanted pests, often by
taste or smell.
Rodenticides are used to kills rodents (mice, rats, gophers...)
Wood Preservatives are used to make wood resistant to
insects, fungus and other pests.
STEP #5. Evaluate - To Keep Pests
Below the Economic Injury Level

Economic Injury Level:
◉ Cost of control = $ amount of damage
caused by the pest
◉
◉
Includes amount of pest damage
Cost of each control practice
◉ Are determined through extensive
research
◉ Economic Injury Level is the information
that is necessary to develop an
Economic Threshold
Economic Threshold

Pest Population at which a grower must take action to
prevent a pest populations from reaching the economic
injury level
◉ Economic threshold is slightly below the economic injury level
◉ Pest populations must be increasing
What about spray schedules?
Mostly “out-the-window!”
Economic Threshold Concept
doesn’t work for all pests and pest
types
◉ Insects
◉ Weeds
◉ Diseases
“Each Pest Management Technique
Must be Environmentally Sound”

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Cultural
Host Plant Resistance
Mechanical
Sanitary
Pesticides
◉ Man-made
◉ Natural
◉ Biological
> timely, directed
> well-planned, proactive
> effective, non-injurious
> conscientious, devoted
> studied, understood
> legal, labeled
> on-target, timely
STEP #6 - Educate

Educate yourself
 Educate your workers
 Keep notes by the
month, and by the crop
What IPM Is and Isn’t…..

A multi-disciplinary approach to pest mgmt.
 Involves:
◉ Entomology
◉ Plant Pathology
◉ Nematology
◉ Weed Science
◉ Crop Sciences (Horticulture/Agronomy)
◉ Soil Science
◉ Ecology
◉ Laws & Regulations (health & legal issues)
IPM is not static, it is ever-changing!
 We
are always faced with:
◉ New Pests
◉ New Races/strains of pests
◉ Weed Species shifts
◉ Pesticide Resistance
◉ New laws & regulations
◉ New health concerns & findings
◉ New pesticides, both man-made &
natural
◉ New & improved varieties
Review: Basic Principles of IPM
1)
2)
3)
4)
Thorough understanding of
the crop, pest, and the
environment and their
interrelationships
Requires advanced
planning
Balances cost/benefits of all
control practices
Requires routine monitoring
of crop and pest conditions
Review: Benefits of an IPM Program

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Protects environment through elimination of
unnecessary pesticide applications
Improves Profitability
Reduces risk of crop loss by a pest
Peace of Mind
Review: Disadvantages of IPM

Requires a higher degree of management
 More labor intensive
 Success can be weather dependent
Questions?