Introduction

• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices.
• IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment.
• This information, in combination with available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.
• The IPM approach can be applied to both agricultural and non-agricultural settings, such as the home, garden, and workplace1.
• IPM is not a single pest control method but rather a series of pest management evaluations, decisions and controls.
• In practicing IPM, growers who are aware of the potential for pest infestation follow a four-tiered approach.
• The four steps include: Set Action Thresholds, Monitor and Identify Pests, Prevention and Control.

Integrated:

• Integrated focus on interactions of pests, crops, control methods, and the environment rather than on individual weeds, insects, or diseases.
• This approach considers all available tactics and how they fit in with other agricultural practices.

Pest:

• Pest is a species that conflicts with our profit, health, or convenience.
• If a species does not exist in numbers that seriously affect these factors, it is not considered a pest.

Management:

• It is a way to keep pests below the levels where they can cause economic damage.
• Management does not mean eradicating pests.
• It means finding tactics that are both effective and economical and that keep environmental damage to a minimum.