When will integrated pest management strategies be adopted? Example of the development and implementation of integrated pest management strategies in cropping systems in Victoria

Abstract

This paper discusses the development and implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for broadacre cropping in Victoria, Australia, with reference to other crops and also the levels of adoption of IPM in Australia and overseas. Levels and rates of adoption are mostly low but with some exceptions. The reasons for differing levels of adoption include the failure of strategies to successfully deal with all pests, the lack of motivation to change to using IPM given current successful pesticide-based controls, and the poor availability of IPM advisors in the field. This paper outlines how IPM strategies for wheat, barley and canola crops were developed and implemented using a collaborative approach between farmers, agronomists and entomologists. It was found that although there were no existing specific IPM strategies for the crops grown in the region of south-eastern Australia, there was sufficient information for farmers to start using an IPM approach. This paper gives a case study of implementing change to IPM from conventional pesticide spraying, including the development of a course in IPM for growers and agronomists. It focuses on the process of changing practices and information transfer rather than on entomological details.

Resistance is not Futile: It Shapes Insecticide Discovery

“…Fumigation with phosphine gas is still the most commonly accepted treatment before dry storage or export [ 62 , 63 ]. As IPM programs are more widely adopted, selective and appropriate chemical options are needed once pests reach the treatment threshold [ 64 ]. On a global scale pesticide use has been largely decreasing, but in many countries chemical control makes up a large portion of their response to insects that endanger human health, crops and stored products, and native ecosystems.…”

Herbivory-induced volatiles function as defenses increasing fitness of the native plant Nicotiana attenuata in nature

“…By indicating the long-sought indirect defensive function of HIPVs, these data set the stage for the use of HIPVs as part of integrated pest management strategies (IPM), which rely in part on recruiting biological control agents to reduce pesticide use (Horne and Page, 2008). These agents are usually naturally occurring generalist parasitoids and predators, such as Geocoris spp.…”

The current status of pesticide resistance in Australian populations of the redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor)

“…Landscape level changes have also recently been shown to increase numbers of beneficial invertebrates and suppress H. destructor populations 41, 42. Education, communication of ongoing resistance issues and control tactics and a collaborative approach between growers, agronomists and researchers will be required to achieve widespread implementation of integrated management programmes and strategic chemical use 43…”