HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 19

that limited-resource farmers can be involved productively in all stages of the FSR
approach. Farmers' participation at all stages relates in one way or the other to the
selection, design, testing, and adoption of appropriate technologies.
FSR rapidly became popular and was strongly supported by many donor agencies
(Brown et al . 1988). Thus, the FSR approach evolved primarily as a result of lack of
success in developing relevant improved technologies. The strong technical focus
that characterized the evolution still persists to this day, although increasingly
many, including FSR practitioners, are advocating that the approach can be used
constructively in addressing not only technological solutions but also those relating
to policy/support systems (Collinson 2000).
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 5
Chemical control of agricultural pests has dominated the scene, but its overuse has
adverse effects on farm budgets, human health and the environment, as well as on
international trade. New pest problems continue to develop. Integrated pest manage-
ment, which combines biological control, host-plant resistance and appropriate
farming practices, and minimizes the use of pesticides, seems an attractive option for
the future, as it guarantees yields, reduces costs, is environmentally friendly and
contributes to the sustainability of agriculture (UN 1992). Agenda 21 (UN 1992)
states that IPM should be the guiding principle for pest control. Many countries and
donor organizations have explicitly committed themselves to implementing IPM,
and their number is increasing. All major technical cooperation and funding
organizations are now committed to IPM, and many have developed specific policy
or guideline documents.
A number of factors have influenced the evolution process of IPM and Integrated
Vector Management (IVM). These include:
Ecological factors - In the past, strategies that relied mainly on the use of chemicals
to achieve pest control repeatedly led to failure. In agriculture, frequent treatments
disturb the agro-ecosystem balance by killing the natural enemies of pests and cause
resurgence and secondary pest release. In addition, populations of previously unim-
portant pests can increase when primary pests and natural enemies are destroyed. In
both, agriculture and public health, repeated applications favour the development of
resistance in pest and vector populations to the pesticides used, as well as cross-
resistance to other pesticides.
Economic factors - Costs of pesticide use have been on the increase, both to
individual users and to national economies. The pesticide treadmill is caused by
ecosystem disruption. Unnecessary applications (e.g., calendar spray schedules)
5 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) means a pest management system that, in the context of
the associated environment and the population dynamics of the pest species, utilizes all
suitable techniques and methods in as compatible a manner as possible, and maintains the pest
populations at levels below those causing economically unacceptable damage or loss (FAO
1967).