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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Maricopa, Arizona » U.S. Arid Land Agricultural Research Center » Pest Management and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #240962

Title: Implementing principles of the integrated control concept 50 years later – current challenges in IPM for arthropod pests

Author
item Castle, Steven
item GOODELL, PETER - University Of California
item PALUMBO, JOHN - University Of Arizona

Submitted to: Pest Management Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/10/2009
Publication Date: 11/3/2009
Citation: Castle, S.J., Goodell, P.B., Palumbo, J.C. 2009. Implementing principles of the integrated control concept 50 years later – current challenges in IPM for arthropod pests. Pest Management Science. 65(12):1263-1264.

Interpretive Summary: Maintaining a balance with numerous insect and mite pests that seek to benefit from our food and fiber crops has been a prominent goal of humans since the beginnings of agriculture. Soon after synthetic organic insecticides were introduced and adopted for protecting crops, problems associated with their pervasive use such as pesticide resistance and pest resurgences began to impact pest control and formed a whole new set of challenges for combating pests. These newest challenges were brilliantly addressed by the theory and concepts contained in the integrated control concept published in 1959, although heavy reliance on pesticides in most cropping systems has continued to generate new versions of the old challenges. More recently, increased globalization has resulted in regulatory constraints on pesticides used on crops and has issued a new set of challenges for IPM as the central paradigm for pest management. It is argued that the original tenets of the integrated control concept still describe the most scientific and rational approach for safeguarding the world’s food supply against pestiferous competitors

Technical Abstract: Pest management theory and concepts developed fifty years ago as part of the integrated control concept remain at the foundation of IPM today. Implementation of integrated control and subsequently IPM has always been faced with the challenge of carrying out their principles in a rigorous, disciplined manner without shortcutting essential knowledge and information inputs. As sampling plans have developed and become more sophisticated and the number of insecticidal modes of action has expanded tremendously, the challenge is greater than ever for IPM practitioners to sufficiently grasp and put into practice the knowledge and information required for managing pest populations. There are also significant external challenges to the implementation of IPM arising from the global marketplace. These involve the imposition of maximum residue limits (MRLs) and other regulatory constraints regarding international produce shipments that impinge on permitted control actions for protecting a crop. It is argued that the original tenets of the integrated control concept still describe the most scientific and rational approach for safeguarding the world’s food supply against pestiferous competitors.