INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM)

Integrated Pest Management is the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and minimise the risks to human health and the environment. It encourages natural pest control mechanisms in crop production

We are working on the contents of these pages. Information on various techniques and methods of pest control will be addressed. This will include for example more selective biological and synthetic pesticides with use against various destructive insect and disease pests with no or low risk to beneficial organisms used for biological control, as well as minimum adverse effects to natural pest control mechanisms already in place. It is well known that there are many chemical insecticides that are completely harmless to a wide spectrum of non-target insects, or that are very unlikely to cause harm when used according to the registered label directions.

We at Biological Crop Health support the integrated approach of biological with synthetic pesticides where sufficient information is available on the hazard status of such formulations. It is further well known that just because something is biological or from natural origin it does not necessarily mean that such substance or organism is environmentally friendly. The same counts for synthetic pesticides; there are many pesticides that can cause irreversible damage to humans, wild life and the environment but there are also many that are classified as relatively non-toxic with no harm to humans, wildlife and the environment.

We therefore invite all agricultural companies (chemical and biological) to feel free to contact us at johan@biocrophealth.co.za if you feel like making an editorial contribution to these pages under IPM