Integrated Pest Management: A Less Toxic Way to Reduce Garden Pests
Jane C. Martin is a horticulturist who writes for the Columbus Dispatch, and she offers the integrated pest management system (IPM) as an option for those who find organic growing difficult but who don't want to douse their crops with pesticides.
Insects, mites, weeds, diseases, mildew, and other critters want a share of any gardener's labor. Sitting back and watching pests devour veggies, fruits, and flowers is unacceptable, but so is being liberal with herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, vermicides, and whatever else comes with a "cide."
Integrated pest management is kinder to the earth, less toxic, less polluting because it makes logical and earth-friendly assumptions. IPM operates on the belief that the mere presence of a pest doesn't necessarily mean it has to be killed. Gardeners can tolerate a bit of damage to plants or a few weeds in the lawn. This sentiment is shared even by those who practice a completely pesticide-free approach to growing food. Read Myra Goodman's Earthbound Farm Cookbook and you'll read her common-sense instruction that if an ear of corn has a worm in it, simply cut away the mealy part; she further adds that there's plenty left for you to eat!
IPM also assumes that no single method of pest control will work; rather, several methods might need to be used together for optimal results, and these methods are not restricted to chemical pesticides.
The greatest thing about IPM is that it promotes greater mindfulness over agricultural endeavors. For example, instead of spraying plants as a first response, IPM practitioners re-evaluate the landscape, weather, and the level of damage by pests before they decide how to deal with the pests.
IPM's first response to pests is cultural, not chemical. This means that practitioners make sure to plant their crops in the correct site. Is the plant attacked by mildew because it's in a shaded area? Would the mildew naturally die if the plant was moved to a sunnier corner? Is mildew growing because of too much water? Would less watering solve the problem?
IPM practitioners also care for those crops correctly in terms of planting, fertilizing, pruning, aerating the soil, composting and so forth. Healthy plants are just like healthy people, they have an immune system able to fend off diseases and insects.
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