Main Ideas:
What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
What does IPM do?
How can producers use it effectively?
How can they stay updated with IPM technology?
Definition of IPM: A comprehensive system of choosing pest management practices from all available agronomic practices.
Includes cultural, biological, mechanical, and chemical techniques.
Selection Criteria (IPM techniques must be):
Effective
Environmentally safe
Give practical and achievable results
Economically profitable
Agronomic Practice Selection:
Know the crop's growth cycle and how pests affect different stages.
Recognize and identify the pest.
Working knowledge of the pest:
What causes the pest to flourish?
What control methods exist?
How weather influences populations and life cycle stages?
Know options to prevent infestation.
Select control options if infestation occurs.
Keep up with weather forecasts that influence pest activity.
Be aware of the latest research on new IPM methods.
Importance of Prevention: With most agronomic problems, there are few "rescue" programs (except for row crops), emphasizing prevention.
Healthy Crop: Good growth competes with weeds and resists insects/diseases.
Practical Practices to Minimize Chemical Controls:
Crop Rotation: Growing a planned sequence of crops in order.
Benefit: Changes field environment, making it harder for pests to establish.
Correct Planting Date: Choose based on temperature.
Ensures crop is most competitive and mature enough to withstand insect attacks.
Correct Planting Rate: Creates an environment conducive to crop growth.
More competitive against weeds.
Clean Certified Seed: Reduces weed introduction.
Resistant Varieties: Natural protection from pest invasions.
Many new resistant varieties are produced using genetic engineering (biotechnology).
Soil Testing: Provides correct nutrients to reduce plant stress and pest susceptibility.
Rescue Measures: Spraying, biological predators, cultivating, and vacuuming.
Economic Threshold: A principle to decide when to use rescue measures.
Scouting determines insect types and crop damage risk.
Decisions made on treatment type and timing based on scouting results.
Definition: The level at which the potential damage value by a pest exceeds the cost to correct the problem.
Primary Goal: Develop new alternatives to pesticides and integrated tactics.
Examples of Tactics Under Development:
Insect attractants
Biopesticides
Host plant resistance
Cultural practices (altered row spacing, rotation patterns) to reduce weeds
Physical barriers (mulches)
Useful Advances Include:
Host Plant Resistance: Developed via traditional breeding and genetic engineering.
Transgenic plants producing biopesticides or resisting virus infection (viral coat proteins, enzymes).
Pesticide Resistance Management: Understanding how natural and artificial selection lead to pest resistance.
Useful in designing IPM systems to limit resistance development.
Application Technology: Delivers the minimum pesticide amount for control.
Reduces adverse impacts on nontarget organisms.
Forecasting Pest Movement: Precisely time control methods.
Technologies to improve forecasting of aerial pest movement.
Best IPM tactics are constantly changing.
Researchers discover and develop new methods and strategies.
Producers/applicators must stay updated on weather and insect forecasts.
Information Sources:
Agricultural chemical dealers
Major food processors (encourage IPM methods in contract growers)
Private consultants (in at least 38 states)
Land grant universities, state extension services, USDA
Communications networks (researchers, extension staff, private consultants, producers)
Electronic communications networks (fast information movement)
World Wide Web (new possibilities)
National IPM Network (four regional IPM servers with regional/state information)
Main Idea: How to control insects without toxic pesticides.
Current Situation: Most harmful insects controlled with chemical insecticides.
Kill pests but also harm beneficial insects (bees).
Countless formulas exist for over one million pest insect species.
EPA Estimates: 40,000 people treated for pesticide poisoning annually (may be underreported).
Ninety percent of American households use pesticides in homes/yards/gardens.
US uses about a billion pounds of pesticides per year (100 times more than in the 1930s).
Food crop loss to insects is almost twice as great as 40-50 years ago.
Problems with Chemical Pesticides:
Destruction of natural predators.
Increased pest resistance.
Contamination of food crops, water supply, fish, wildlife, and humans.
Reduce the need for chemical controls by working with nature.
Methods:
Encouraging or introducing natural enemies (predators)
Using nontoxic biologically produced pesticides
Using nontoxic insecticides based on "mechanical" control
Developing/using insect-resistant crop varieties
Natural Insect Enemies (Three General Groups):
Predators
Parasitic insects (parasitoids)
Insect pathogens
Parasites:
Example: Wasps laying eggs inside aphids.
Immature wasps develop on/inside hosts, killing them as they mature.
Adult wasps emerge and repeat the cycle.
Predators:
Consume many prey during their lifetime.
Example: Ladybugs (lady beetles)
Some stink bugs are predatory; nymphs and adults feed on caterpillars, beetle larvae, and other insects.
Predators of Colorado potato beetle larvae.
Pathogens:
Nematodes, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that may kill hosts.
Using Natural Enemies (Three Methods):
Introducing exotic natural enemies
To permanently control native or introduced pests.
Conservation method: Modify the environment to favor natural enemy growth.
Periodically releasing natural enemies (augmentation method).
Conservation Method Importance:
Practical and easiest for farmers.
Reduce the rate/frequency of pesticide applications.
IPM methods include scouting to determine pests and predators, informing chemical use.
Applying the "economic threshold" approach.
Promising way to reduce chemical applications.
Examples:
Cotton (developed by Monsanto and released in 1996)
Insect-resistant corn
Resistance from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a natural soil bacterium.
Bt protein incorporated into plants controls caterpillars (cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, pink bollworm).
Biological pesticides used by gardeners (e.g., Bacillus thuringiensis).
Kills specific insects, harmless to humans.
Genetic engineers use Bt protein to develop resistant crops.
Nipcon: Patented and registered in the US and Canada, meets USDA and EPA criteria.
Not a typical insecticide.
Uses: Industrial buildings, warehouses, stores, homes, schools, hospitals, and food handling establishments.
No warnings required for children or pets.
Nipcon effectively controls:
leafhoppers
houseflies
mites
silverfish
beetles
ants
crickets
trips
fleas
box elder bugs
aphids
leafroller
cockroaches
Nipcon advantage: 13 chemical agents needed to eradicate the same insect list.
Also nontoxic and biodegradable.
Nipcon Formulation:
Diatomaceous Earth - 88.0%$$88.0\%$$
Ethomeen - 10.0%$$10.0\%$$
Pyrethrum - 0.2%$$0.2\%$$
Inert Ingredients - 0.8%$$0.8\%$$
Technical Piperonyl Butoxide - 1.0%$$1.0\%$$
Diatomaceous Earth: Dead one-cell organisms from ocean/lake floors.
Diatom skeletons appear sharp with multiedged spears under a microscope.
Punctures insect's waxy coat, causing dehydration (desiccation).
Bees have a mechanism protecting them from d.e.
Pyrethrum: Extract from chrysanthemums.
Causes rapid death or paralysis.
Technical Piperonyl Butoxide: From pepper plants.
Prolongs pyrethrum's life.
Ethomeen: From animal fats.
Unlocks d.e. and pyrethrum's killing powers.
Insects avoid d.e. spears.
Nipcon: Natural, safe for humans and animals.
Main Idea: Leverage mechanical weed control to reduce or eliminate chemical weed killers.
Challenge: Weed control is difficult for producers aiming to reduce input costs and pesticide contamination.
Abandoned fields quickly become overtaken by weeds.
Weeds are highly competitive and cannot be ignored.
Weeds can develop resistance to chemical controls with overuse.
Weed Control Practices (Four Categories):
Cultural practices: Crop rotation, timed field operations.
Careful selection of crop varieties (quick emergence, high tolerance, early canopy).
Consider cropping system, weed species, weather, and costs.
Biological control: Cover crops.
Uses allelopathic effects (chemical effect of one plant on another).
Chemical weed controls: Preemergence and post-emergence herbicides.
Mechanical controls: Cultivation methods, hand pulling.
Rotary hoe is relatively low-cost.
Dates back to the dawn of agriculture, still used widely.
Often combined with chemical control.
Comparison:
Mechanical cultivation is more labor-intensive than chemical treatments.
Chemicals require purchased inputs but reduce labor.
Environmental impact and health risks of herbicides are a concern.
Tradeoffs: Weed control choices must balance environmental contamination, labor, time, health hazards, soil erosion, effectiveness, economics, herbicide carryover, and equipment needs.
Farmers often choose to reduce herbicide amounts rather than eliminate them entirely.
Methods: Lower rates or banding herbicides (in-row) with cultivation (between rows).
Producer Concerns: Reduced yield if weeds are not sufficiently controlled.
Additional Factors:
Labor: Must be available when cultivation is needed.
Field management: Accurate weed identification, weather monitoring, and timely cultivation are critical.
Weed control: Control may not be adequate for all situations with reduced rates.
Full rates may be needed for weeds like shattercane, wild proso millet, woolly cupgrass, and quack grass.
Cloddy soil surfaces or crop debris may hinder lower herbicide rates and cultivation.
Application rates: Manufacturers have no liability for below-specification applications.
Success depends on timely cultivation.
Reduce application rates are not recommended if timely cultivation cannot be assured or if there is a problem with hard-to-control weeds.
Sustainable approaches require more labor and management.
Concern about herbicides in groundwater increases interest in mechanical weed control.
Herbicide-resistant weeds (lambsquarter, red-root pigweed) may require cultivation.
Likely solution: Alternate cultivation with chemical controls.
Effective mechanical weed control requires knowledge of weed identification and growth characteristics.
Rotary hoeing is most effective when weeds are in the white hair stage (germination to emergence).
Works on all plants, thinning crop stands (may need increased planting rates).
Shallow disturbance breaks soil crusts and aids crop emergence and water influence.
Hot, dry weather improves cultivation success.
Additional hoeing operations are typically performed seven to ten days later.
A third hoeing can be done if weed pressure is heavy or crop growth slow.
Limited information indicates that plants in excess of four to five inches may be permanently damaged.
Final mechanical weed control is cultivation with specialized equipment for in-row weeds.
Hilling mechanisms can be added to conventional field cultivators.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Notes
Main Ideas:
Definition of IPM: A comprehensive system of choosing pest management practices from all available agronomic practices.
Selection Criteria (IPM techniques must be):
Agronomic Practice Selection:
Importance of Prevention: With most agronomic problems, there are few "rescue" programs (except for row crops), emphasizing prevention.
Healthy Crop: Good growth competes with weeds and resists insects/diseases.
Practical Practices to Minimize Chemical Controls:
Rescue Measures: Spraying, biological predators, cultivating, and vacuuming.
Economic Threshold: A principle to decide when to use rescue measures.
Primary Goal: Develop new alternatives to pesticides and integrated tactics.
Examples of Tactics Under Development:
Useful Advances Include:
Best IPM tactics are constantly changing.
Researchers discover and develop new methods and strategies.
Producers/applicators must stay updated on weather and insect forecasts.
Information Sources:
Main Idea: How to control insects without toxic pesticides.
Current Situation: Most harmful insects controlled with chemical insecticides.
EPA Estimates: 40,000 people treated for pesticide poisoning annually (may be underreported).
Problems with Chemical Pesticides:
Reduce the need for chemical controls by working with nature.
Methods:
Natural Insect Enemies (Three General Groups):
Parasites:
Predators:
Pathogens:
Using Natural Enemies (Three Methods):
Conservation Method Importance:
Promising way to reduce chemical applications.
Examples:
Resistance from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a natural soil bacterium.
Biological pesticides used by gardeners (e.g., Bacillus thuringiensis).
Nipcon: Patented and registered in the US and Canada, meets USDA and EPA criteria.
Nipcon effectively controls:
Nipcon advantage: 13 chemical agents needed to eradicate the same insect list.
Also nontoxic and biodegradable.
Nipcon Formulation:
Diatomaceous Earth: Dead one-cell organisms from ocean/lake floors.
Pyrethrum: Extract from chrysanthemums.
Technical Piperonyl Butoxide: From pepper plants.
Ethomeen: From animal fats.
Insects avoid d.e. spears.
Nipcon: Natural, safe for humans and animals.
Main Idea: Leverage mechanical weed control to reduce or eliminate chemical weed killers.
Challenge: Weed control is difficult for producers aiming to reduce input costs and pesticide contamination.
Abandoned fields quickly become overtaken by weeds.
Weeds are highly competitive and cannot be ignored.
Weeds can develop resistance to chemical controls with overuse.
Weed Control Practices (Four Categories):
Dates back to the dawn of agriculture, still used widely.
Often combined with chemical control.
Comparison:
Tradeoffs: Weed control choices must balance environmental contamination, labor, time, health hazards, soil erosion, effectiveness, economics, herbicide carryover, and equipment needs.
Farmers often choose to reduce herbicide amounts rather than eliminate them entirely.
Methods: Lower rates or banding herbicides (in-row) with cultivation (between rows).
Producer Concerns: Reduced yield if weeds are not sufficiently controlled.
Additional Factors:
Reduce application rates are not recommended if timely cultivation cannot be assured or if there is a problem with hard-to-control weeds.
Sustainable approaches require more labor and management.
Concern about herbicides in groundwater increases interest in mechanical weed control.
Herbicide-resistant weeds (lambsquarter, red-root pigweed) may require cultivation.
Likely solution: Alternate cultivation with chemical controls.
Effective mechanical weed control requires knowledge of weed identification and growth characteristics.
Rotary hoeing is most effective when weeds are in the white hair stage (germination to emergence).
Works on all plants, thinning crop stands (may need increased planting rates).
Shallow disturbance breaks soil crusts and aids crop emergence and water influence.
Hot, dry weather improves cultivation success.
Additional hoeing operations are typically performed seven to ten days later.
A third hoeing can be done if weed pressure is heavy or crop growth slow.
Limited information indicates that plants in excess of four to five inches may be permanently damaged.
Final mechanical weed control is cultivation with specialized equipment for in-row weeds.
Hilling mechanisms can be added to conventional field cultivators.