What is Integrated Pest Management or IPM?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an environmentally friendly solution, which can be successfully applied for pest elimination. Based on human power of understanding and knowledge, this program is used everywhere in agricultural field or in households. Therefore, IPM is focused on the pest life cycle, their place and role in the environment. IPM is the way to control pest without any harm for human beings, animals and without damaging our properties.
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This goal can be achieved through:
a) Observation
b) Monitoring
c) Prevention
d) Intervention
The main idea is to reduce and even eliminate the use of chemical pesticides that poison our environment. It is evident that a better alternative is to use both organic and natural pesticides and human intelligence to control pest.
Let’s see in detail the four steps.
Observation: This step is extremely important in assessing the severity of the problem and the steps that we can take to deal with it. It takes time and patience and needs accuracy. Seeing only one single pest does not mean that we are facing an infestation. Of course, if our observations lead us to the fact that we are dealing with an infestation, a different approach is required.
Monitoring: This step is a critical step. Having all the observations, you have to take the proper decision regarding the infested area. Is it necessary to use chemical pesticides or not? Take in consideration that IPM try to reduce the use of pesticides. Therefore, you should analyze carefully all the solutions. Maybe, it is only enough to pick up the pest or its larvae with your hands, or maybe you can use natural and organic pesticides.
Prevention: Prevention is the next step and you need to plan carefully this step. Supposing you have solved the problem for now, you want to make sure that you will not get an infestation in the future. Therefore, you should take all measures to prevent recurrence. There are many ways to do that. You can periodic spray the area with natural and organic pesticides, grow resistant breeds of plants or specific plants that repel the pest away.
Control: This is the last solution, your plan B, if the pest infestation persists. Now, you need to weight carefully the options that you have, in fact the use of chemical pesticides. It is a big decision and it is recommended to try some natural products such as Cedar Oil, before applying a radical solution.
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