Integrated pest management in temperate horticulture: seeing the wood for the trees.

Abstract

Owing to the decreasing availability of synthetic pesticides, there is an urgent need for developing and improving alternative pest control methods in horticulture. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aims to reduce and control the damage caused by pest organisms by making use of ecological interactions between the pest, its antagonists and the environment. IPM usually involves combined use of pesticides, pest antagonists, mass trapping and environmental manipulation. This gives rise to potentially negative interference amongst these components as well as with other environmental and crop-related factors. Such interference has the potential to reduce IPM efficacy, especially as the use of IPM is broadened and intensified. Evidence for such interference among components of IPM is briefly reviewed and the need for a research agenda that investigates such interference experimentally is discussed along with the potential for using 'big data' generated in IPM to conduct meta-analyses and construct powerful models for IPM. These approaches to research and data management should support the expansion and improvement of Decision Support Systems (DSS) for IPM practitioners that combine databases, expert networks and models. The success of DSS based on increasingly complex and extensive knowledge and data greatly depends on their accessibility, ease of use and whether they produce clear outputs that support decision-making by growers and consultants. The aim must be to improve IPM efficacy, predictability, cost-effectiveness and sustainability, while still finding ways of helping IPM practitioners identify IPM strategies that are optimal for their needs amongst an increasing number of options.

Diamondback Moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) in Southern Africa: Research Trends, Challenges and Insights on Sustainable Management Options

“…By global standards, these farmers use the greatest variety of chemicals, highest application rates, and the highest application frequency [5,43]. Frequency of application ranges from once every three weeks to three times a week [5,20,43,59].…”

“…In Malaysia, [90] observed very little change in farming systems over a decade, particularly the use of synthetic insecticides despite widespread IPM campaigns. This can be attributed in part to lack of documented systematic IPM methodology or commercially prepared IPM packages with step-by-step instructions on how to use them [59,91]. Intensive research for a locally developed IPM system with simplified methodology, and inexpensive and accessible materials is therefore essential.…”

“…Global politics, as regards chemical use controls, is such that toxic pesticides are first banned in developed nations with effective regulatory and legislative policies. As regulations tighten in these countries, chemical manufacturing is reduced and the burden is passed on to developing countries by relocating factories and establishing subsidiaries in poor countries with governments that do not have effective regulatory controls [59,86,94]. In SA, this results in the uncontrolled use of extremely hazardous compounds, even years after they have been banned [5,20,61,94].…”

Advances in insect pest and disease monitoring and forecasting in horticulture

“…Several authors emphasize 'seeing the wood for the trees', that is, moving from reductionist mechanistic models towards more systemic or holistic approaches to modelling as a tool of pest forecasting in IPM. Harvey (2015) calls for Big Data for conducting meta-analyses and constructing powerful models for IPM in temperate horticulture. Orlandini et al (2017) describe the need to develop agroclimatology-based mechanistic models in terms of how models are built, parameterized, validated and implemented to produce, as outputs, pest risk maps for long-term decision-making and preparedness, and pest forecasts for day-to-day decision-making.…”

“…This requires also that the importance of data collecting must be made understood to all stakeholders. Otherwise a large part of important data could remain only anecdotal and not become used (Harvey, 2015). Orlandini et al (2017) call for coupling of pest models with crop models, that is, a step towards a more systemic approach, since many current pest models do not have outputs that are easy to translate into pest impacts.…”