Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
IPM is simply balancing pesticide use with natural methods of pest control or maximising the methods supplied by nature to help reduce pesticide use. IPM ensures that pesticides are used with correct understanding for the surrounding biodiversity and land, as well as for the health of the user. You prepare to keep pests from becoming a problem, such as by growing a healthy crop that can withstand pest attacks, using disease-resistant plants, planting maize as a border crop, using other crop and pheromone traps, or sealing cracks to keep insects or rodents from entering a building. Rather than simply eliminating the pests you see right now, using IPM means you’ll look at environmental factors that affect the pest and its ability to thrive. Armed with this information, you can create conditions that are unfavourable for the pest.
