What are pests? When thinking of pests, we normally think of animals typically insects. That is not incorrect! But there are other things that also qualify as pests. Mites, rodents, fungi, weeds and some other plants, nematodes (worms) and some other animals are also a part of that group. Anything that can be harmful to the health of humans, animals, plants or the environment really.

The most commonly known pests are the ones that cause harm to plants that we humans grow. They damage those crops by making holes in leaves, eating fruit, damaging the land, damaging the plant or even causing its death.

So, what can be done about them? We have all heard of pesticides, but they are harmful to the environment, right? They sure can be, especially if they are used too much or chosen incorrectly.

To understand how to stop pests safely, we must first understand the conditions in which they appear. A big factor in getting rid of pests is location. Depending on the location the pests that would harm your crops may not appear if they don’t live there. Connected to that is the favourable environment for the pests that would invade your plant. The environment can often be altered to make it more favourable to plants and less favourable to pests (one way of doing that is with pesticides, but there are also other ways). Those are the easiest ways to prevent pests, but sometimes they just can’t be implemented.

If that is the case, we can still use IPM (Integrated Pest Management). It refers to the mechanical, biological, chemical, cultural and genetic solutions to pests. It has two goals: keeping pest levels below the economic injury level and avoiding adverse effects on humans and the environment. In order to do that, scouts evaluate when and what steps to take. They look at crop conditions and the number of pests per plant.

In mechanical control pests are removed/destroyed by: Plowing, mulching, moving.

In cultural control: Croup rotation, rouging, trap cropping, burning, planting resistant varieties, destroying habitats in and around fields.

In chemical control, pesticides are used. They are separated into three groups. Insecticides are used for insects and are very harmful to animals and humans because they affect the nervous system of the insects. For nematodes we use nematicides. To cure plant diseases, we use fungicides (for fungi) and bactericides (for bacteria). Herbicides are used to control herbs or weeds. Some of them are selective and will kill only a certain type of plant while others kill any plant on contact.

Biological control uses living organisms to control pests. It does that by applying the natural predator-prey relationship, fungi and plats or by altering the reproductive cycle of the pests. An example of this is ladybugs used to control aphid populations.

Genetic control alters plants so that they produce toxins for some pests.

We now understand that there are many ways to get rid of pests and that is not only best but also necessary that we always use the correct path. I hope that knowing all possible solutions will also enable us to detect any wrongdoing and therefore help the environment.

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