Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
11
Impacts on Integrated Pest
Management
Abstract
During the past decade, higher education institutes, research managers,
and investors have shifted focus away from traditional crop protection
towards crop resistance with a subsequent decline in resources for broader
plant health and integrated pest management (IPM). This has reduced the
ability of crop protectionists to take full advantage of the many new tech-
nologies available today for managing crop health. The momentum and
impact that IPM has had in the past on pests, especially insects, diseases,
and weeds as they affect crop health and food security, need to be expanded
and taken to a new level. A potential exists for yields to increase well
beyond those attained by the green revolution while reducing human and
environmental costs.
Improvements in IPM can lead to sound crop health management
(CHM) programs that contribute towards resolving the unprecedented
challenge to food security facing the international community. This, how-
ever, requires looking at CHM in the wider context of climate change,
trade globalization, environmental protection, and the role of agriculture
for economic growth to alleviate poverty.
Keywords
Integrated pest management Crop health management Insects Diseases
Weeds
11.1
Introduction
(uninjured) yield in major food and cash crops
(Oerke
2006
).
Integrated pest management is an important
principle on which sustainable crop protection
can be based. IPM allows farmers to manage
pests in a cost-effective, environmentally sound,
The harmful pests (insects, pathogens, nema-
todes, weeds, rodents, and other animals) are
responsible for signifi cant losses that are esti-
mated to vary from 26 to 40 % of the attainable
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