Integrated pest management (IPM)

• IPM is an integrated strategy for crop pest management that includes use of resistant varieties, modifying agronomic practices to reduce pest incidence, biological control and other Nobel approaches for pest suppression and only need based and judicious use of chemical pesticides.

Objectives of IPM

• Maximizing crop production with minimum input cost.
• Keeping pest below economic threshold level instead of eradication.
• Minimize environmental pollution due to pesticides.
• Minimize occupational health hazard due to pesticides.
• Preserve ecosystem and maintain ecological equilibrium.

IPM encourages

• Use of healthy seeds that leads to healthy plants.
• Emphasis on cultural control including tillage, crop rotation, intercropping, trap cropping etc.

• Mechanical control like hand picking.
• Physical control involving manipulation of temperature, humidity, light etc.
• Biological control by use of botanical pesticides, BCA and bio-pesticides.