Biological pest control involves introducing organisms that naturally reduce or remove unwanted species from an environment. These organisms can be helpful (like nematodes) or harmful (like aphids and grubs).
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Pests are more than unwelcome guests; they spread germs and disease and cause damage to property. The best way to avoid them is to stop them before they begin. This can be done through preventive pest control methods, such as sanitizing and vacuuming or traps and sprays. The most effective method of preventive pest control, however, is Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
All pests need food, water and shelter to survive, but the best way to make sure that these resources are not available is to eliminate their breeding areas. This is the most important step in IPM. Food processing environments, in particular, are often attractive to pests due to their supply of food and water. Infestation can result in physical contamination of the product and its packaging by rodent droppings, insect parts or foreign bodies, microbial pathogens carried on the body or external surfaces of the pest, or direct damage to the building and equipment through chewing or burrowing.
IPM consists of the following steps:
Take away pests’ food, water and shelter. This is the most important aspect of prevention, and is the simplest to implement. Make sure that food is stored in sealed containers and that garbage cans have tightly fitting lids. In commercial establishments, ensure that food is prepared in clean, hygienic conditions and that storage areas are well-ventilated. In residential settings, keep floors bare and remove clutter where possible; pests love to hide in dark spaces. Lastly, regularly check trash cans for signs of infestation and be aware of your local garbage collection schedule to minimize accumulations of unsecured waste.
Suppression
Pests are organisms (insects, mites, nematodes, bacteria, viruses, fungi, or vertebrate animals) that damage or devalue crops, food stores, lawns, gardens, or human structures and activities. In addition, they can negatively affect terrestrial and aquatic environments. Pest control involves preventing or decreasing damage to an acceptable level. It can be accomplished by using any of the tactics described on this page or in the IPM Tactics page, including cultural practices, physical barriers, biological controls, and chemical options.
Often, the most effective control measures are those that interfere with the pests’ ability to feed, breed, or move. Cultural methods can include soil preparation, choosing plants that are adapted to site conditions and resistant or tolerant to insects and diseases; planting “trap crops” to attract and hold pests away from desirable species; and blocking the pests’ access to water or food with barriers like fences, screens, traps, or nets. Physical barriers include netting over small fruit, screening in greenhouses, or installing spikes and grid wires to discourage birds from flying into the crop; mulch to suppress weed growth; and modifying irrigation schedules to avoid long periods of high relative humidity that favor disease development.
Biological control agents are natural predators, parasites, or pathogens that normally occur in nature and reduce pest populations. Examples include beneficial mites that feed on insect pests in orchards; nematodes that kill harmful soil grubs; and encarsia wasps that parasitize the greenhouse whitefly. These natural enemies can be conserved or purchased and released, with careful attention to their biology and life cycles.
Chemicals are the most widely used pest control tools, but they also pose the greatest risks to people and the environment when misused. To minimize hazards, read and follow the pesticide label.
A variety of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and antibiotics are available to manage many types of problems. When other management strategies are ineffective, or if environmental and economic thresholds for pest injury have been exceeded, the use of chemicals may be appropriate. In general, the fewer the chemicals used, the more sustainable the management of the pest problem will be.
Eradication
Pests are organisms that disrupt human activities. They can cause damage to people, plants and their habitats by spreading disease or spoiling food. They may also carry bacteria or viruses that can make people sick.
Several types of pest control methods are available. Some are physical traps, netting or decoys; others use chemicals. The most effective pest control methods are those that involve prevention and suppression, rather than eradication. Eradication is difficult to achieve in outdoor environments, but it can be a goal when a particular pest has been introduced or has become established only in a limited area and is not yet widespread. For example, a local eradication effort might be undertaken for the Mediterranean fruit fly, gypsy moth or fire ants.
Eradication is the most challenging of pest control options, and it is rare to be successful. It can be very costly and may require long-term efforts. In addition, eradication of a disease pest often requires the support of the public and government because people are unwilling to tolerate the presence of this invasive species in their communities.
Biodiversity impacts on pest control
Biodiversity is an important factor in maintaining sustainable populations of crop-insect natural enemies. This is because pests and their natural enemies compete for resources, including food, water, shelter and space. An abundance of natural enemies means fewer pests, and this can help reduce the need for chemical intervention.
The term biodiversity has a wide range of meanings and can be used to describe genetic diversity within a species, species richness in the environment, functional diversity at a trophic level or interactions among ecosystem components. It is important to consider the benefits of biodiversity in relation to pest control, and to manage agricultural systems in ways that enhance it.
Pests can affect our health and safety, damage our homes, gardens and personal items, and interfere with research and teaching. Some have a repulsive appearance, like cockroaches and rodents; some bite or sting (real or perceived) such as bees, wasps, mud daubers and yellowjackets; and others stain or smell (like flies, house centipedes and earwigs). Many pests also contaminate our food and can trigger allergies and asthma.
Monitoring
A pest is any animal at any stage of its life cycle that poses a risk of contaminating food or otherwise detracting from its wholesomeness. Pests are found in homes, restaurants and schools as well as on farms, factories and golf courses. Some pests are active during the daytime, making them easily seen; others hide underground or in secluded places and only become obvious when they build up high populations. To keep pest numbers under control, a system of monitoring must be established.
This can be done by trapping (such as glue boards, fly traps and pheromone traps) or by scouting. For example, scouting may involve inspecting buildings for signs of pests including egg masses or excrement, and recording the results in a log. Pest control professionals also use prepared log sheets which record date, time, specific location, pest identity and number of pests found.
The logs can be reviewed on a regular basis to see the effectiveness of the control methods employed and to identify the areas where more attention is required. If a pest problem is identified, a treatment plan may be implemented to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the facility or from entering new products.
A food manufacturer’s staff can be the most useful source of information on pest sightings, especially when trained to recognize the symptoms of certain pest infestations. A pest sightings register should be maintained to record these observations, and a pest control contract should include a provision for routine inspections by the company’s own employees.
Insect light traps are a very useful tool for monitoring, because they are not limited to night-flying insects or house flies; they can also attract many species of stored product insects (such as cigarette beetles and warehouse beetles). Regular checks of these traps can provide early warning of the onset of an infestation.
Monitors for rodents can be as simple as glueboards or multiple-catch traps, but more sophisticated monitoring systems have been developed for grass seed crops, cranberries and vegetable crops. The Oregon Pest Monitoring Network (OPMN), for instance, involves the daily monitoring of more than 15,400 plots by hundreds of observers using a wide variety of monitors, including multiple-catch traps and pheromone traps.
