Biological Pest Management AGR 121
Course Description
This course will emphasize the building and maintaining of healthy soil, plant and insect biological
cycles as the key to pest and disease management. Course content includes study of major crop
pests and diseases, including structure, life cycle, and favored hosts; and biological and least
toxic methods of chemical control. Upon completion, students will be able to identify and
recommend methods of prevention and control of selected insects, weeds and diseases.
Rationale
Students completing a degree in Sustainable Agriculture, or a certificate in Sustainable
Vegetable Production should complete this course. This course is also valuable to those who are
interested in advancing their knowledge and application of sustainable pest management
methods.
Expected student outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able:
 To identify specific practices associated with sustainable pest management
 To identify insects, weeds and diseases that are commonly associated with vegetable
production of the SE
 To utilize on-line resources useful in making pest management decisions
 To outline management practices necessary for specific crops
 To scout for insect pests and predict possible problems
 To observe various planting methods and evaluate their effectiveness in pest
management
 To design a crop rotation with specific pest management guidelines
Credit: 3 semester hours - there are no prerequisites for this course
Textbook: The Organic Gardeners Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control. Edited by
Barbara Ellis and Fern Bradley. NOTE! This text does not include information on weeds, so we
will be using other resources for the weed unit of this course.
Book mark this site: http://growingsmallfarms.org/cropproblems.html
Biological Pest Management - 2007 Course Calendar by Topic
January 9 – Introduction to Biological Pest Management principles

Textbook pages 2-10, A Whole-Farm Approach to Managing Pests, SAN handout, prepare
to discuss on 1/16
January 16 – Planning and management philosophy, crop rotation principles*

Text pages 406-429-cultural controls [415-419*], crop rotation handout
1
January 23– Designing a monitoring system-creating pest teams - assign teams

Text 429 -446- physical controls (Start reading about plant diseases: section 3 in text,
pages 340- 353)
January 30- Diseases – diagnosis and monitoring, types of pathogens

Text pages 353-359
February 6 – Diseases – vegetables, cut flowers, fruits

Text pages 370-403 - Using the Disease symptom guide.
February 13 - Weeds – types and identification
Quiz on pest management principles and diseases 2/13

Weed id handouts
February 20– (disease team report) Weeds - management methods Weeds – tools.

Handout – Ch. 17 from Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-up to Market
February 27– Weeds- management in various crops
March 6– Nematodes – pests and beneficials. Video.

Text pages 353-354. Begin reading in text about insect life cycles (256-267)
Quiz on weed id and management methods 3/6
March 13–Insects – classification and identification

Text pages 256-267
March 20 – (weed team report) Insects – major pests of horticultural crops
March 27-- Insects – pests of horticultural crops
Quiz on weed management and nematodes 3/27
April 3 – Spring Break - No Class
April 10 –. Beneficial Insects

Text pages 447- 462 – biological controls
April 17 – (insect team reports) Pest management in cropping systems– insects and weeds in the
field
Quiz on insect ID and major pests 4/17
April 24 – Crop Rotation analysis due - Final Team Reports due
May 1 – Final exam
2