What is Integrated Pest Management?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the name given to the practice of using a  combination of control methods to keep pests from ruining a crop. With IPM, the term "control" does not always imply the use of a chemical control, though the use of chemicals (synthetic or "organic") may be an option. Non-chemical pest control strategies include cultural, mechanical, and biological controls as well as good sanitary practices. Most of these controls are used as preventive measures in an attempt to help keep pests below critical levels. However, certain conditions can still allow a pest population to build up to injurious levels. If this should occur, a rescue treatment can be used to reduce the population of the pest and rescue the crop.

At the heart of IPM is the understanding that many crops can tolerate a certain amount of pest damage. As a result, a rescue treatment is not needed until the pest population reaches a critical level usually referred to as a "threshold". With commercial production of a crop, this threshold is most often an economic one as determined by researchers.  An economic threshold is the point where the the cost of treatment for a specific pest is less than the loss in value to the crop.

The practice of IPM is dependent on regular monitoring of the fields to determine the pest populations and the amount of damage being done to the crop.   It is also necessary to understand the life cycles of the pests and the interactions that can take place between the different forms of life within the environment.  Monitoring may be done with traps, monitors or direct observation.

In 1978, along with many other counties in Ohio, Wayne County offered an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program that was funded in part by the state. Our program at that time and up through 1989 dealt primarily with the agronomic crops of corn, alfalfa and soybeans.  By 1985 it was one of the few remaining county-based programs within the state.  The diversity of agriculture in Wayne County, support from clientele and the fact that the IPM program has become nearly self sufficient  are all felt to be factors that have led to the continuity of the Wayne County IPM program.  

Although sweet corn fields were occasionally enrolled as part of this program, it was not until 1990 that horticultural crops began to grow as a part of the county’s IPM program.   A group of Amish growers had started a pepper co-op in Wayne and Holmes Counties in 1988.  In 1988 and 1989, the pepper co-op growers had disease and insect problems that prompted them to turn to the Holmes County agent for assistance.   As a result, a pilot program was initiated in 1990 to develop a scouting program to help educate the grower as to how to identify, evaluate and control the pest populations using IPM practices in fresh market produce. As Holmes County had no established Extension IPM program, the development of the program was a cooperative effort between Wayne and Holmes Counties with funding from both the growers and the state IPM program.  With the assistance of Extension and Research specialists, guidelines for scouting and thresholds were developed, many of these being adapted from other states.  

Along with vegetable crops, we also received requests from area growers to scout fruit crops, specifically apples, peaches and grapes.   These crops were incorporated into the IPM program in 1993.   Since then we have added fruit and vegetable crops as requested by the growers.  Crops scouted presently include asparagus, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, snap beans, potatoes, tomatillas, ground cherries, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, sweet corn, okra, summer and winter squash, sweet potatoes, gourds, radishes, apples, peaches, grapes, blueberries, brambles, strawberries and most recently, cut flowers.  These horticultural crops now make up 415 of the nearly 3000 acres that we scout each week.  Scouting and threshold guidelines for most of these crops are available in the Ohio Vegetable Production Guide, Small and Tree Fruit Handbooks and the Small and Tree Fruit Spray Guides, while for some (cut flowers, tomatilla and okra), we have had to develop our own guidelines.