pest management

Pest monitoring done using field surveys and surveillance helps in forecasting the population build up of pest. Once a pest manager has taken precautions to prevent pest infestations, it is important to watch regularly for the appearance of insects, weeds, diseases, and other pests. This is called monitoring. The primary goals are to locate, identify, and rank the severity of pest infestations. It reduces the load of pesticides application and forms the basis of Integrated Pest Management. Various direct and indirect sampling methods for establishing pest populations are discussed. The use of pheromone lures and traps forms one of the important ingredients of integrated pest management, which calls for integration of all available methods in a cost effective and environmental friendly manner offering consistent efficacy.

The pest density at which management action should be taken to prevent an increasing pest population from reaching the economic injury level is called Economic Threshold Level ( ETL ). Economic thresholds can be expressed in a variety of ways including the number of insects per plant or per square meter, the amount of leaf surface damage, etc. Pest population assessment and decision making are among the most basic elements in any integrated pest management (IPM) program. Economic thresholds help in taking decisions by providing guidance as to whether insect control will have an economic benefit. Economic threshold helps in reducing the use of pesticides and are one of the keys to profitable pest management. The development of economic thresholds requires knowledge of pests, their damage, the crop’s response to damage, and estimates of likely crop value and costs of control.