Each month we will be highlighting some particularly interesting chapters from the Burleigh Dodds academic publishing company‘s agricultural science database, which is available free to members until the end of June 2022.

Just login and visit our Crops Collection member page to access the full collection, then search for the hand-selected chapters below.

For May, we’ve selected some interesting chapters on Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Foundations of an IPM program: detection, identification, and quantification

Michael E. Irwin  (University of Illinois, USA) and Dr Wendy Moore (University of Arizona, USA)

Integration of pest management efforts based on advanced technologies and multiple pest assessments in multi-field and areawide venues has led to a host of sophisticated approaches that continue to shape the discipline of integrated pest management (IPM). From the initial efforts, the concept of pest control has evolved into an established ecological, economic, and sociological paradigm. This chapter describes the bedrock components of IPM, pertinent to managing annual and perennial fruit, grain, vegetable, and greenhouse crops, as well as ornamentals. Although emphasis is placed on recently formulated and emerging technologies and their current and future impacts on the two foundational IPM components, the chapter also examines the status quo and provides insight into the constraints imposed by the state of technology and by society at large. Finally, the chapter looks ahead to future trends in this area.

Advances in microbial control in IPM: entomopathogenic viruses

Sean Moore  (Citrus Research International and  Rhodes University, South Africa ) and Michael Jukes (Rhodes University, South Africa)

Although there are several families of viruses known to include insect pathogens, only a handful are recognised to have species with any potential of being biopesticides. The majority of these are baculoviruses and are an ideal component of an integrated pest management (IPM) programme, as they are highly target pest-specific, have no detrimental side effects, are user-friendly, are often as effective as the chemical alternatives, are compatible with most pesticides and technologies, and they leave no detectable residues. However, there are certain challenges associated with their usage, such as slow speed of kill, a narrow host range, limited shelf life, high cost and the possibility of resistance development – the solutions to which are discussed in this chapter. Three baculovirus biopesticide case studies are provided elucidating the practical benefits and challenges of using baculoviruses in IPM systems. The chapter concludes that the usage of insect viruses in IPM is set to grow in the future.

Economic assessment of integrated pest management (IPM) implementation

George B. Frisvold (University of Arizona, USA)

Besides reducing health and the ecological risks of pest control, integrated pest management (IPM) seeks to increase farm income. Economic constraints also act as barriers to adoption of IPM practices. An understanding of how IPM affects the farm “bottom line” is crucial to efforts to encourage IPM. This chapter discusses methods for estimating the economic impacts of IPM, devoting special attention to advances in statistical methods to account for sample selection bias in program evaluation. The chapter also discusses methods for estimating economic values of reduced environmental risks. Finally, the chapter examines the effectiveness of Farmer Field Schools in promoting pest management knowledge, IPM adoption, and farm income and discusses ways to improve economic assessments of IPM programs.

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