Integrated Pest Management-Global Practices
ABHISHEK DEBBARMA and SHRUTHI PEDDINTI
The main idea of this project was to understand and document various IPM practices around
the world. After discussing with another group which was focusing on IPM practices in India,
we decided it would be best if we concentrate on global practices.
"Cultural control"
It refers to the deliberate alteration of the agricultural system by cropping system itself or by
adapting specific crop production practices, to control pest populations or avoid pest specific
injuries to crops.
Functional Mechanisms
 Impairing the pest colonization of crops
 By giving rise to condition that reduces the chances of survival of pest populations
 By modifying the crops to reduce pest colonization
 Manipulating the environment to give rise to natural enemies of pests
Destruction or provision of breeding or overwintering refugia
Some of the natural enemy species of the common pest population require food sources that
are not available in particular crop habitats. By developing certain wild vegetation habitats
the growth of these species can be helped and motivated for the destruction of pests.
A very common practise in California is to establish blackberry planting near vineyards to
support natural enemies of pests such as leafhoppers and wasps. An egg parasite of
leafhoppers which is Angarus epos increases enormously on the eggs throughout the year.
Since leafhoppers are a natural pest of vineyards it is natural to establish blackberry plantings
as it promotes and speeds up the growth of Angarus epos.
Crop rotation
Crop rotation helps to interrupt the normal life cycle of the pests by placing them in a nonhost habitat. This method is mainly effective against arthropod pest species.
A very popular practice is to crop rotate between soybean and cotton. White fringed weevil
complex, Graphognathus leucoloma (Boheman) and G. peregrinus(Buchanan) lay eggs on
soybean and cause damage to the crops. However, cotton cops are naturally resistant to these
species making the crop rotation technique efficient.
Tillage
Tillage includes operation such as soil turning and residue-burying practices, seedbed
preparation, and cultivation. They help in destroying weed populations by directly getting rid
of wild weeds around the crop production habitats.
Some of the common global practices are the practices of tillage in mid west countries where
the method is adopted to get rid of the stalk borer, Papaipema nebris. Serious damages have
occurred in those areas due to this particular pest where tillage practices are not employed.
“Pest management in natural parks”
National parks protect and preserve the natural and cultural resources of our nation.
Managing these park resources involves the daily roadblocks and challenges of careful pest
detection and prevention.
The method of using IPM in a national park involves identification of the pest, understanding
the use and significance of a particular site and the importance of protecting a historic item
while taking into account and education of the people involved. IPM also establishes pest
tolerance levels and monitoring protocols. With the help of technical experts and on a case–
by-case basis, national parks have developed an effective, site specific and low risk strategy
to manage the pest. This includes altering conditions which attracted pests to the site in the
first place.
A very useful practise of IPM in national parks is controlling purple loosestrife. Purple
loosestrife is a non-native invasive, wetland weed destroys wildlife habitat by taking over all
available growing space. They can be contained through an early detection practise and rapid
response efforts. Depending on the site and location, herbicides are used specifically to
eliminate outlying patches of purple loosestrife. In order to control dense stands of this
particular weed a tiny biological control agent, a beetle, is used which eats and eventually
destroys the plants allowing natural habitat and wildlife to survive in the wet lands in parks.
“Greenhouse IPM in Canada”
Canada has adopted a new practise which is known as insect-exclusion netting which has
shown tremendous results. Though only a small percentage of the industry has adopted this
practise till date, it could grow into a very popular practise. However, some of the concerns
are that in hot climates the air flow from netting use, and thus the requirement of positive air
movement during the summer months is a must.
“Boll-weevil treatment in Brazil”
The greatest problem of boll-weevil is its genetic resistance to chemical control measures.rol
of boll weevil. In Mexico and Central America Boll-weevil has become increasingly resistant
to chlorinate hydrocarbons, organiophosphates and pyrethroids. The production losses per
year due t this particular pest is estimated to be around 0.5 tons. The governments in those
regions have tried to adopt the following steps to tackle the problem:
 Evaluation of existing knowledge, and identification of functional elements useful for
the development of location specific control packages, and definition of specific
regional strategic plan
 Study of Boll-weevil and cotton agro-ecosystems
 Using acquired IPM technologies to tackle Boll-Weevil
 Transferring this technology to farmers
Rice stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas) in Sri
“
Lanka”
In order to tackle the extensive use of pesticides in Srilanka the government has
sought to IPM practices for the Rice stem bower. Srilanka is faced with the daunting
task of increasing the current rice production which is a must for its growing
population. However, the task seems unachievable due to different kinds of pest
attacks. Primarily the main pest is the Rice stem (Scirpophaga incertulas).
The yellow stem borer attacks Asia’s main staple food living exclusively on the Oryza
cultigens and Oryza wild rice. It is a highly specific pest which originates in
deepwater environment.
Modern approaches to crop protection rely mainly on management rather than the
process of control or eradication. In this approach, a pest species is considered a pest
only when it approaches a number that can cause yield reduction. Currently,
Pheromones, BT, Kairomones, sterilization of insects, IPM techniques etc. have been
widely used all around the world in managing stem borer attacks. A common,
naturally occurring bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (BT), produces a substance that
is toxic to some types of moths and butterflies that in the caterpillar stage of their life
cycle eat and damage the leaves of crops. BT bacterial genes have been implanted
into crops so that their cells produce the toxin. Because spiders also produce toxins
that kill insects, researchers are planning to insert the appropriate spider genes into the
cells of suitable crops.
Economic threshold level (ETL) is a major tool used in IPM to properly time pest
control practices particularly, application of chemicals. Its usefulness relates to the
need-based application of pesticides so as to minimize negative effects of agricultural
chemicals on the environment and public health. ETL is defined as the pest damage
level where the value of incremental reduction of yield is equal to the cost of
preventing its occurrence. A farmer who adopts this technology operates at a situation
where the marginal revenue equates marginal costs. Department of Agriculture in Sri
Lanka has not developed ETL values for all the major pests in rice. DOASL has
adopted values from other countries in the region for research purposes.
ETL for Stem borer is determined as follows:
At the Vegetative stage of the crop- 10% dead hearts or 20 egg masses,
At the Reproductive stage of the crop-5% white heads
“Vetiver Grass as Component of Integrated
Pest Management Systems in Africa”
Anecdotal evidence exist that vetiver roots per se is repellent to insects.Vetiver roots
for example are used to repel clothe moths, head lice and bed bugs. Scientific reports
do however exist of repellent compounds present in vetiver oil extracted from roots of
vetiver grass. Vetiver oil is a complex essential oil that consists of several hundreds of
compounds of which six are reported to possess insect repellent properties.
The role of vetiver grass technology in control of pests should not be seen in isolation
of other pest management tactics. On its own, like any other pest control method,
vetiver will not be effective in reducing pest infestation levels over time. Vetiver
should be seen as one of the components of IPM systems. In these systems it could
have a role as trap crop for specific pests and as refuge for natural enemies of many
different pest species. A good agricultural management practice that ensures good
crop health forms the basis of crop protection.
Using vetiver technology as part of agro-ecosystems can have many advantages and
positive spin-offs:
• Food security: It reduces the damage caused by pests and results in increased
yields.
• Soil conservation: Vetiver technology protects from soil erosion and low fertility.
• Exploiting biodiversity: Presence of vetiver contributes to biodiversity
conservation in many landscapes
• Sustainability: Vetiver as trap crop host natural enemies conserves soil and
improves livelihoods of users, thereby ensuring more sustainable farming.