Pesticides just one tool in the modern farmer’s pest management toolbox

Steve Savage | February 10, 2017 | Genetic Literacy Project

Whether a farmer is growing in an organic or conventional system, his or her crop needs to be protected from damage from plant pests (insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, weeds…). To fail to minimize pest damage leads to inefficient use of scarce resources like prime farm land, water, or inputs. The quality and safety of the final products can also be compromised.

The approaches used to implement IPM programs generally fall into six categories:

1. Avoiding the pest
2. Employing the plant’s own genetic defenses
3. Modifying the climate
4. Disrupting the pest’s life cycle
5. Fostering beneficial organisms
6. Using targeted pesticide applications.....To Read More....

My Take - For those in the pest control industry, and my regular readers, you're aware of my views on IPM.....in structural pest control.   However, IPM is an agricultural concept based on threshold limits - a valid, well defined concept.    I would like for anyone to tell me how this in any way could be construed as a structural pest control concept that can be properly, consistently, and logically defined.