Sustainable agriculture is a key element of sustainable development and essential to the future well being of the planet. Sustainability aims to achieve adequate safe and healthy food production, improved livelihoods of food producers and the preservation of non-renewable resources. Integrated Crop Management (ICM), and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), to which CropLife International members from the plant science industry are committed, are the strategies best suited to preserve our environment and natural resource base in the long term.

The demands of a growing world population for food and fibre require world agriculture to produce higher yields from less cultivated land. Feeding future populations with today’s crop yields is not viable; it would require drastic expansion of planted acreage. In many parts of the world additional land is unavailable. In others, expansion of the cropped area would be environmentally and socially unacceptable. Increasing yields from existing land requires continuous improvement of agricultural technologies including those in crop protection to minimise losses before and after harvesting.

The challenge is to do this without harming the environment and the resource base for future generations of farmers and consumers. IPM is an important strategy which is a relevant aspect of sustainable agriculture.

Less land per person requires more high yielding agriculture to meet necessary demands for food and fibre. To be sustainable, this must be achieved within the framework of IPM.

IPM policies and objectives are being adopted increasingly in developed and developing countries. IPM implementation is most advanced in Europe and North America, and is expanding in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The goal is to achieve long-term sustainable systems of crop protection and production. The plant science industry recognises and supports this objective.

IPM's place in sustainable development

IPM is the crop protection system which best meets the requirements of sustainable development and sustainable agriculture. IPM is a component of Integrated Crop Management (ICM). ICM has been developed as a farming system to meet the requirements of long-term sustainability. It is a whole-farm strategy which involves managing crops profitably, with respect for the environment, in ways which suit local soil, climatic and economic conditions. It safeguards the farm’s natural assets in the long term. It includes practices that avoid waste, enhance energy efficiency and minimise pollution. ICM is not a rigidly defined form of crop production but is a dynamic system which adapts and makes sensible use of the latest research, technology, advice and experience.

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Prevention

Many aspects of farm and crop management are designed to limit or prevent initial outbreaks of pests, weeds and disease infestations. Practical strategies, many already familiar in agriculture, can be combined and optimised to design IPM programmes. The goal is preventing pest populations from building up to economically damaging levels. The following preventative considerations should be assessed:

• Location
• Crop rotation
• Cropping pattern
• Crop variety selection
• Crop husbandry and hygiene
• Irrigation
• Natural habitat management and biodiversity conservation
• Inter-cropping
• Harvesting and storage
• Tillage
• Plant nutrition

 

Observation

Determining IF, WHEN and WHAT actions should be taken to maximise crop protection and optimise quality is the goal of effective observation. This involves crop monitoring and decision support systems to interpret data.

Crop monitoring or observation is a key step in deciding if, when and how to intervene. Many indirect prevention measures have a cumulative effect – for example, host plant resistance and crop rotation and conservation of natural enemies, all help to reduce pest pressure, but are often not sufficient on their own to eliminate the need for some form of intervention.

Intervention

Reducing the effects of economically damaging pests, weeds and diseases to acceptable levels may involve mechanical, biological, chemical and biotechnological control measures applied individually or in combination. Costs, benefits, timing, available labour force, machines/tools and control agents, as well as economical, environmental and social effects all have to be taken into consideration.

Local recommendations for IPM will vary depending on the farming system, crops being grown and climatic conditions. Whether of synthetic or natural origin, plant science products will remain indispensable components of IPM in agriculture systems on a worldwide scale. Their use in Integrated Crop Management systems must be based on the principles of IPM.

 

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Successful IPM must be based on farmers’ needs, concerns and circumstances. A wide range of products and services are required by farmers in order to adopt IPM, calling for close interaction between them, the scientists and the experts developing IPM technologies. Farmers themselves are often the best judges of what is the most appropriate technology for their needs but the farmer’s options may be limited due to government intervention. Targeted, judicious and appropriate use of technologies protect and enhance the environment and contributes to sustainable production.

Technologies and services include the development and use of chemical, natural, biological and biotechnology products for pest control, possibly computer-aided sampling and decision-making, applying different methods and improving farm equipment. Farmer-orientated programmes are essential to put these into practice.

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The role of the plant science industry in developing IPM strategies is to provide access to a wide range of appropriate technologies, services and products and as much information as possible on their characteristics, costs, specificities and optimal strategies for their use within IPM principles.

Available technologies for an IPM strategy

• Variety selection: The correct choice of variety suitable for location and climate, and also, where appropriate, resistant to pests or tolerant to herbicides, is one of the first decisions a farmer needs to make. A large number of conventional varieties are available to the farmer and the choice is increasing through developments in genetic engineering.

• Chemicals: In developing an appropriate strategy of chemical control in IPM programmes, it is essential to review the known product characteristics and costs of products which are locally available; then select those products which provide the most cost-effective treatment with minimal undesirable side effects and which together provide an effective resistance management strategy. Careful advice on the most appropriate crop protection product to use in an IPM programme is needed. Some chemicals have a broad spectrum of activity, while others are only active against a few pest species. Selective compounds are less likely to affect natural enemies and other non-target organisms, but are often more expensive and not so widely available. When they are available, it is important to determine whether fewer applications of a more selective but more expensive compound are actually more costeffective than a cheaper broad-spectrum compound which requires more applications.
  
  Most commercially available products have a broad spectrum of activity. When reviewing the choice of such compounds in IPM programmes it is important to distinguish between intrinsic toxicity and bio-availability. The intrinsic toxicity of some broad spectrum compounds against natural enemies can be misleading. Under some field conditions “behavioural selectivity” can occur which limits their “bio-availability” against non-target organisms. For example:
  • Where pesticides are highly systemic within the plant, localised treatments may keep contact between the active ingredient and non-plant eating organisms to a minimum.
  • Compounds with translaminar penetration of leaves combined with fast degradation on the leaf surface can also be “selective”.
  • Products with short persistance or bio-availability can also be “selective” even though there could be an initial impact on beneficials.
  • If care is taken in terms of dose applied as well as timing and placement of the application (e.g. seed treatment) then the exposure of non-target organisms can be reduced.

• Biocontrol agents: Mass release of pest predators or parasites or application of microbial pesticides may be an effective option in some environments. However, they rarely remove the need for additional control measures.

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In order to play its role in the widespread adoption of IPM, the plant science industry requires mutual support and collaboration with government and non-government organisations (NGOs), and also international research-based companies, international, national and local associations, distributors, dealers and retailers and of course, farmers themselves.

The range of skills in the plant science industry (e.g. technical, research, product development, marketing, education and training), its experience, resources, products and infrastructure are all relevant to the goal of transforming IPM into a reality in the hands of farmers and others trying to manage pests sustainably.

Education and training is a vital part of IPM implementation. There are many links in the chain, from scientists developing IPM to farmers and pest control operators practising it. Appropriate education and training are likely to be required at each step. Education and training needs to enable farmers and others trying to manage pests properly, that IPM is relevant to their local circumstances and that it will bring them benefits. It should provide the means for farmers to better understand the population dynamics of pests and beneficial organisms in their crops and the impact of any control actions they undertake.

Multi-stakeholder partnerships

The last decade has seen an increase in partnerships and alliances among various stakeholders, including the public and private sectors. By building on each partner´s competencies and comparative advantages and by creating long-term relationships practical widespread implementation of IPM may be better realised.

Technology transfer and capacity building

Long-term and sustainable adoption of IPM by farmers will only occur if the information and knowledge of the principles and technology that underly the strategy are made available to them. The industry is actively engaged in training and capacity building programmes across the world which provide the knowledge required to apply IPM practically and use the range of products available effectively.

Training of farmers and their families is an essential element in ensuring the implementation of IPM over the long term. Much of the training information prepared for farmers could be adapted for schools.

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