What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
Modern agriculture has helped achieve greater productivity; farmers yet have become more and more reliant on synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers. New molecules of insecticides were discovered in the early 50s and later contributed to secure food production worldwide. One of the main issues with this approach is that short-term solutions to specific pests or diseases will lead to long-term problems (environmental pollution, ecosystems degradation, habitat loss, reduction of soil health and soil structure, pest resistance in response to indiscriminate and repeated insecticide use, emergence of new pests, loss of biodiversity and threats to human health). Most plant health practitioners know that it is unwise dealing with insect pests with a one-to-one approach. Aware of environmental issues, and ever-increasing concerns about climate change, consumers are more and more demanding for guarantees on environmentally friendly production schemes such as “organic farming”. Sustainability is now the new norm and from smallholder farmers to large agribusinesses, this new component needs to be incorporated into modern farming systems.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been promoted for more than half a century in Europe and North America but also in the southern hemisphere and can be effective in achieving the sustainability of agronomic systems. With IPM, no one looks at a single pest or disease alone when managing it, but instead, within a global or holistic framework (in essence the agro-system) of a multitude of pests and diseases affecting the crop, itself protected by a myriad of benefits. Hence the term IPM refers to the vision of “integrating” and ensuring that potential solutions for a given pest (A), would not be done at the expense of developing other pests (B, C, D). The understanding is that pest A may not be controlled by a single approach but through a wide range of solutions ranging from pest prevention to pest control. Any farming decision can affect the targeted pest, yet can also be the source of new pests if not properly anticipated.
The three pillars commonly defined in IPM are:
- understanding the biological features of the agricultural crop – put in simple terms: what are the main pests and diseases (Pest Identification) present on the crop before intervention, and what are the beneficial insects (natural enemies and pollinators for example) that can be affected by pesticide use?
- using pesticides only when needed, and to do so, actively and preemptively monitor pests and diseases before considering any pesticide spray;
- the use of an Economic Threshold (ET) in any intervention, which helps to reduce unnecessary costs to the farmer. That means some pests can be harmful at a very low density, but other pests, they may not represent a threat to farmers' income (cases where pests are visually present but have little impact on the yield).
IPM has been now widely accepted, is often defined as “a long-term management strategy that uses a combination of tactics to reduce pests to tolerable levels with potentially lower costs for the pest manager and minimal effect on the environment” (the University of Reno - https://extension.unr.edu ). Others have underlined the importance of a global approach when dealing with pests “a holistic solution to the problem of managing harmful insects, weeds and plant diseases” (https://landscapeipm.tamu.edu/what-is-ipm ).
Another term, “agroecology” is often found in the growing body of agricultural or entomological studies. Agroecology and IPM have many features in common, and both terms are rather intertwined. With “agroecology”, the emphasis is on agricultural systems being agro-ecosystems where beneficials will support a number of “ecosystem services”. Ecosystem services can be achieved – just to name a few - by natural enemies (control of pests), pollinators (improved pollination), and by soil micro and macro-organisms (decomposers - nutrient recycling that supports soil fertility). IPM has also been defined as “the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms.” (International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management, FAO/WHO, 2014, https://www.fao.org/farmer-field-schools/ffs-overview/integrated-pest-management), which portrays well the common features shared by IPM and agroecology.
In conclusion, IPM and agroecology are essential to achieving long-term production in modern farming systems. In the next post, we will examine possible control tactics that can be used in an IPM strategy.
