Pests are organisms that damage or spoil crops, livestock, pets and human dwellings. Control methods include prevention, suppression and eradication.
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Correct identification is the first step in any pest management program. This will help you select the best control measures for your situation.
Preventing pests from entering a property in the first place is the most cost-effective approach to control. This can be done through exclusion, trapping, physical removal or barriers, and other means. Keeping doors and windows closed when not in use, sealing cracks, and using screens to keep out birds and insects can all prevent entry of pests into buildings. Regularly sweeping, vacuuming, and wiping surfaces can eliminate sticky residues that attract pests. Storing food in sealed containers, and taking out garbage regularly are also effective prevention strategies.
In outdoor settings, prevention often focuses on creating barriers to stop pests from getting to food or water. This can be achieved by planting species that are attractive to natural predators, fostering habitats for wildlife and other beneficial organisms, or making landscape features difficult for pests to access. It also includes making sure to remove or relocate ripening fruit that could be a attracting source of pests, and to keep compost piles away from the house, and bird feeders and baths to stop the spread of rodents and other pests.
Some pests can cause damage or pose health hazards. The best way to reduce the risk is to remove food and water sources, such as overflowing trash bins or standing puddles. Keeping rubbish bins and recycling containers tightly closed, and not stacking them together can prevent rats, mice, flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and other pests from accessing them. Providing a barrier around gardens with fences, hedges, or other barriers can keep pests out, and using mulches made of woody, organic material can help deter rodents and other pests.
Pesticides can be very effective in controlling many pests when used correctly. However, their use should be restricted to situations where other measures are not working. Always read and follow label instructions and safety warnings, and use only the amount recommended for the situation. When spraying, try to avoid covering any areas other than the target pest, such as under leaves or along foundations. Alternatively, baits or traps can be used, and can be more environmentally friendly than sprays.
Suppression
Keeping pest populations low is the aim of suppression strategies. In the field of IPM, this is accomplished by a variety of cultural, physical and chemical means. It includes using pest-free seed and transplants, scheduling irrigation to avoid situations that encourage disease development, sanitary farming practices, cleaning tillage and harvest equipment between fields or operations, and avoiding alternate hosts for insect pests and diseases. Often, these actions will be enough to keep pest populations below an action threshold that triggers the use of other controls.
Some organisms can act as natural enemies of insects, reducing their population densities. These include predators, parasitoids and pathogens. These natural enemies can be augmented by the mass rearing of biological control agents in insectaries and then periodically or inundatively released into a field to suppress pests. Augmentative biological control is a common technique in greenhouses, nurseries and some fruit and vegetable fields.
Threshold-based decision making focuses on monitoring and scouting for pests. The goal is to know when the pests reach unacceptable numbers to require action. This is done by observing and analyzing the damage caused by the pests, or by measuring the impact of their presence on production yield and quality.
Some pests are “zero tolerance” and can’t be present at all, for example vermin and insects in food establishments that must maintain a very high health standard for human consumers. These pests cannot be eradicated, but can be controlled so that they do not affect human health or the environment.
The most important consideration when developing a strategy for suppression is to evaluate the potential risks and benefits of different control methods. The goal should be to use the least toxic method available to achieve desired results.
Physical and cultural control tactics include erecting fences, barriers and traps to prevent pests from entering an area. Other controls can be based on a host plant that is resistant to the pest, or pheromones that repel or disrupt the pest. Altering the environmental conditions, such as temperature and moisture levels, can also be used to reduce pest infestations.
Eradication
The goal of pest control is to reduce the population of pests below a threshold level that does not harm people, plants or pets. This is usually accomplished through a combination of methods.
Biological Pest control involves introducing natural predators or parasitoids to the environment to manage populations of pests. This is one of the oldest forms of pest management and consists of releasing organisms that naturally consume or kill the pest species. This strategy may also include using disease-causing agents to disrupt the pests’ reproduction or life cycle. Examples of these include bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis which releases toxins that kill caterpillars. This type of eradication is less effective for new pests that have not developed natural predators or parasitoids. These include Japanese beetles and gypsy moths, which are introduced species that do not have native predators in the US.
Physical Traps and netting are used to capture pests and prevent them from entering buildings or homes. These types of methods are sometimes more effective than repellents, and can provide immediate results. However, they are more labor intensive and require regular maintenance. They may also be hazardous to people and the environment if not properly maintained and disposed of.
Chemical
Chemical pest control is an alternative to biological pest control, and involves using a synthetic solution to eliminate a particular pest. These solutions are typically easier to find and work faster, but can pose health and environmental risks when inhaled or ingested. Examples of chemicals in use include repellents that deter pests, fungicides designed to kill weeds and insecticides for control of insects.
In extreme cases, chemical pest control may be necessary. This is especially true for invasive species that threaten ecosystems. These may be in the form of structural damage to buildings or foundations, contaminated soil and waterways, or even airborne dust particles. Fumigation is the most extreme form of chemical pest control, and involves sealing a building and pumping it with pesticide to completely eradicate all pests inside.
Accurate pest identification is essential to the success of any pest control program. It helps determine the correct method(s) to employ, and allows for monitoring of the pest population over time.
Controlling Natural Forces
Pests are organisms that are unwanted in human environments for the damage they cause to food crops, living animals and property. Pests are also organisms that spoil the appearance of living and work spaces. They can be rodents such as Black and Brown rats and mice, ground-feeding insects like millipedes and green June beetle grubs, flying insects such as houseflies and blowflies, fermentation flies, thrips, mosquitoes, ticks, ants, fleas, mites and bees, plant diseases, pathogens (microorganisms that cause disease or parasitism), and other undesirable species.
The goals of pest control are to prevent, suppress and eradicate pests as quickly as possible using methods that cause minimum harm to desirable plants and animals. A successful integrated pest management (IPM) plan begins with a thorough evaluation of the problem, including determining the desired outcome(s). Factors to consider in making this determination include the life cycle of the pest, potential damage, natural enemies and environmental conditions that promote or limit population growth.
Threshold-based decision-making is the most common approach to pest control. Homeowners decide when to take action on insect pests by monitoring and estimating the number of pests that will cause unacceptable damage to the health or beauty of their landscaping or food crop plants. This monitoring may be done by scouting or trapping. Monitoring can also include checking environmental factors such as weather that may influence the rate at which pest populations increase or reach damaging levels.
Another common way to control pests is by augmenting the natural enemy populations that naturally occur in a certain area. This can be done by introducing more of the pest’s natural predators or parasitoids into the area. This can also be done by introducing new enemies that have never been introduced into the area. When this approach is used, there is often a time lag between the increase in a natural enemy population and the effect that they have on the pest population. This is because natural enemies are usually distributed over a wide area, while pests are generally concentrated in one or a few areas.
