1. Integrated Pest Management
By: Melody Carter-McCabe

2. Integrated Pest Management
What is IPM?
It stands for
Integrated Pest Management

3. "IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks."

4. How do pests affect our crops?
Before crops are harvested
Decrease plant productivity
Photosynthesis is affected by pests eating leaves
Certain pests can wipe out entire fields and orchards
Quality Control
People want pretty fruits & vegetables
People don’t pay money for bugs!

5. Why is IPM used? Wheat field IPM
Less pesticide use
Used to produce high quality, abundant crops
Longer and more productive use of fields
Increase net profits
Maintain or improve environmental quality
Reduce production risks
Wheat field
IPM

6. How is IPM different than other pest control options?

7. Pest Prevention- acting before there’s a problem
Suppression- acting once there is a problem in order to eradicate it
Eradication – get rid of all aspects of problem from the beginning stages

8. Steps to Implementing IPM Practices:
Establish a “tolerance level for pests” for different crops
For each pest, establish monitoring guidelines
Establish injury levels and action thresholds for each pest species before any treatment 

9. Steps continued….
Institute a maintenance program designed to produce a healthy plant/crop
If pest populations appear to exceed tolerance levels, implement cultural and biological controls
If cultural and biological controls are not sufficient, use least-toxic chemical controls

10. What types of control does IPM implement?

11. Cultural- planting, watering, and pruning
Mechanical- trapping devices & barriers
Biological- natural predators & diseases, hormones/pheromones
Chemical- pesticides and other non-harmful chemicals

12. Do most growers use IPM? Many, if not most, agricultural
growers identify their pests before spraying. A smaller subset of growers use less risky pesticides such as pheromones. All of these growers are on the IPM continuum. The goal is to move growers further along the continuum to using all appropriate IPM techniques.

13. What IPM is NOT
1) IPM is not a rigid program of management techniques.
2) IPM is not organic farming.
3) IPM is not low input, low yield farming. IPM strategies can be developed for any level of production or any commodity.

14. Continued..
4) IPM is not being tied to any certain company's products or services but rather seeks current, unbiased, science-based information to solve problems.
5) IPM is not static, but rather advances the understanding of agricultural systems and incorporates the intelligent use of existing and new technologies through research and demonstrations in practical situations. IPM seeks to put the best science and the best management practices available to work.
6) IPM is not risky, and scientific studies and research evaluations indicate that IPM reduces economic, human health and economic risks.
7) IPM is not scouting one field on a farm and then using the information to treat all fields on a farm alike.
8) IPM is not doing something just because a neighbor has invoked a certain practice, nor is it taking the advice offered by someone at the local coffee shop.

15. More info at…. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/ http://www.mdipm.umd.edu/