IPM is short for Integrated
Pest Management and is an integral part of any sustainable farming program. It
is cost-effective, powerful, and has withstood the test of time. IPM concept
was developed to respond to a combination of problems associated with pesticide
use in the 1950's and 1960's. Events such as pesticide resistance, secondary
pest outbreaks, and environmental contamination led a forward-looking group of
entomologists at the University of California to conclude that we were heading
toward a pest management crisis in agriculture. They realized we had gotten
away from the fact that pest problems are complex and ecological in nature.
They concluded that the solutions to complex ecological problems must be
broad-based and take the vineyard ecology into account. These researchers
developed the IPM concept to better manage pest problems. Since its inception
in 1959, IPM has evolved into the best way to manage pest problems on the
farm.
IPM is a long-term
approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, and chemical
tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental
risks.
Farming is a long-term
endeavor so we want to use management practices that are long-term in nature.
By combining chemical, biological, and cultural control techniques to manage a
pest problem, we develop a broad-based strategy that will still be successful
even if one particular technique does not work. Also, based on our experience
with chemical controls, we know that pest control decisions must take into
account not only economic risks, but effects on the environment and people's
health, as well.
There are five essential
components to an IPM program.
1. Understanding the
ecology and dynamics of the crop. It is important to gather all of the
available knowledge about the crop we are growing. Most, if not all, grape pest
problems can be directly related to the condition of the crop. The more we know
about the ecology of the crop, the better pest management decisions we can
make. For example, it is well known that overly vigorous grapevines can
encourage larger leafhopper populations than vines of less vigor. Therefore,
maintaining proper vine vigor is one way to keep leafhopper populations at
acceptable levels (and to accomplish many other goals).
2. Understanding the
ecology and dynamics of the pest(s) and their natural enemies. It is not
only important to know what pests are present but also to know the details of
their life cycles, what makes their populations change, whether any natural
controls are present, and what effects these may have on the pests. By knowing
as much about the pest as possible we may find some weak point that we can
exploit.
3. Instituting a
monitoring program to assess levels of pests and their natural enemies. It
is vitally important to continually monitor the pest levels in the field. This
is a crucial aspect of the IPM approach. By knowing how many pests are present
we can make the best decision about how much damage they might cause to the
crop. If natural enemies are present we need to know how many are present as
well because they may take care of the pest problem for us.
4. Establishing an
economic threshold for each pest. Effective monitoring and using economic
thresholds make up the core of any IPM program. What is an economic threshold?
It is the level of a pest population above which, if a control action is not
taken, the amount of damage caused by the pest will exceed the amount it costs
to control that pest. In other words it is the level of the pest population at
which the control measure used pays for itself.
5. Considering available
control techniques and determining which are most appropriate. A wide range
of control techniques is available for crop pests. They can be divided into 5
broad categories: chemical controls, such as pesticides; cultural controls,
such as controlling vine vigor or leaf removal; biological controls, such as
natural enemy releases or conserving natural enemies; behavioral control, such
as the use of insect pheromones; and genetic control, such as the use of
resistant rootstocks or loose-clustered clones.
It is very important to
choose the right control technique based on the economic nature of the pest
problem, the cost of the particular control technique, and the effects of this
technique on the environment and people's health.
IPM is an 'Approach' and
Changes with Time
IPM is not a technique or a
recipe, but rather an approach to identifying and solving pest problems.
Particular techniques for pest management may vary from field to field, year to
year, crop to crop, and grower to grower but the overall approach is always the
same, using the 5 essential components of an IPM program. It is important to
point out that an IPM program is not a cookbook approach. It would be nice if
we could tackle a pest problem the same way every time, but history has shown
us that this will not work.
An IPM program is never
complete and is a process of continuous improvement. The reason for this is
that over time we learn more about our crop, our pests and their natural
enemies, and refine our monitoring programs. We also improve our economic
thresholds, and develop new control strategies. Furthermore, we periodically
get new pests. As we gain more knowledge, we need to use it to refine our IPM
programs to make them more effective and to ensure they will work in the
long-term. This is the best way to minimize the economic impacts of pests in
our vineyards and minimize the risks to our health and to the
environment.
For a more complete
description of IPM and how it evolved download the PDF file.
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