Intro to Pest Management Topic #2045 Aaron Gearhart

The Problem With Pests Compete for Natural Resources Have Caused Famine Vectors of Major Disease Epidemics to both plants and animals

What are Pests? Pests are plants, animals, or microorganisms that are detrimental to humans and human activities. Examples: Weeds, Insects, Diseases, nematodes, and Rodents

Most Common Method of Control Pesticides Examples Insecticide (insects) Herbicide (plants) Fungicide (fungi) Nematicide (nematodes) Rodenticide (rodents)

Why do We Control Them? The control of competitive pests allows for us to obtain larger yields

Examples Yield Major Product Increase Pests Controlled Corn 25% weeds, rootworms, corn borers, blights Cotton 100% pink boll weevils, nematodes, rots Alfalfa seed 160% weeds, alfalfa weevils Potatoes 35% tuber rots, black-leg, soft rots, blights Onions 140% botrytis blights, neck rot, smuts, maggots

Who Cares? With increased use of pesticides, concerns about dangers of pesticides has also risen Your role is to be informed about, to practice, and to encourage safe use of pesticides.

Who Cares? EPA Environmental Protection Agency In charge of reviewing all pesticides and registering those pesticides considered safe for use in the environment.

When you need pesticides Healthy plants are less susceptible to attack by pests, and good cultural practices can reduce pest outbreaks. Before you purchase any pesticides you should ask some important questions.

Some Questions to Ask Before Purchasing Pesticides Is a pest actually causing the damage? If it is a pest, what kind is it? Are there non-chemical ways to control it? Is the pesticide cost effective? At this stage in the pests life cycle is a chemical going to be effective?

Things to think about Just because you see a pest does not mean it is a problem Certain amount of pests will always exist Eradication is not economically feasible Over use of pesticides can damage the environment

Good Cultural Practices Will Help Reduce the Need for Pesticides Select plants adapted or native to your area. Control weeds – use mulches and hand- pulling if possible. Weeds can harbor insects. Water adequately – Over watering and under watering can be equally damaging

Good Cultural Practices Continued Do not crowd Plants – planting to close weakens plants and increases disease Fertilize properly – to little fertilizer equals weak plants, to much can damage plants and polute ground water.

Good Cultural Practices Still –Add organic matter such as compost to the soil – rich soil leads to healthier plants –Control pests before they establish by hand removing insects or diseased leaves if possible

Integrated Pest Management Otherwise known as IPM A pest management system designed to use fewer pesticides

Steps in IPM Identification Scouting Prevention Prediction Decision Evaluation

Identification Identifying pest problems the farmer is likely to have. Identification of predators and parasites will help in selecting which pesticides to use.

Prevention Tactics to help prevent pests from becoming a problem. Examples: Changing planting date Preparing land properly

Scouting Monitoring pests in a field to keep aware of developing problems Also monitoring for beneficial insects which can help, manage or reduce pest populations.

Prediction With information gained from scouting the farmer can predict developing problems. Can also predict potential risks and losses.

Decision The farmer decides whether or not to begin treating his field or to wait a while longer based on what he found scouting and by what he predicted his economic outcome to be should he wait.

Evaluation An important step to see how your IPM program is working

Advantages of IPM Improved pest control Reduced environmental risk Better quality crop Can help farmers save money

Disadvantages of IPM Must hire a reliable scout Takes up more time Sometimes farmer must “wait out” a pest to see if its natural enemies destroy it Sometimes IPM requires more pesticide applications.

Consequences of the Chemo Technology Revolution Development of pest resistance to pesticides Chemical contamination of environment Human health risks Harm to non-target beneficial organisms Evolution of new pests