Traditional Practices in Agriculture FULL - ANGOC Site

The harmful insects are, in ecological terms, consumers of the first
order. The role of the insects in the food chain, is not harmful, but
rather important and is indispensable. If there are no insects,
consumers of the second order cannot survive, and the food chain
will be disturbed.
In a well-balanced ecosystem, the number of the insects are kept
within certain limits, which are not harmful to plants. But when
disturbances come from outside, the insects may break out
suddenly and become harmful to plants (crops). If we observe this
fact carefully we can realise that the problem is not the insects, but
the cause of the imbalance in the ecosystem, which allows the
insects to increase.
The insects should be seen as teachers who tell us that we have
done something wrong to the ecosystem. Therefore, before
deciding that the insects are bad and should be removed, we must
discover why the insects have broken out.
The same thing can be said about plant diseases. Plant diseases
occur as a result of outbreak of specific micro-organisms or socalled
disease germs (e.g. some kinds of nematode, fungi, virus,
etc.). These disease germs are usually limited in number, so they
are not harmful to plants. But when the soil ecosystem is disturbed
and conditions are created in which disease germs can easily break
out, then plant diseases occur. The problem is not the existence of
the disease germs in the soil but the disturbing factors, which