and Integrated Pest Management - part - usaid

PREFACE
The Southeast Asi-n region is one of exciting changes in agricultural and
industrial development. Associaicd with thcse changes, however, is the dilemma
of higher crop productivity versus less environmental pollution and fewer health
hazards. Pesticide use is increasing in Southeast Asia; so too is the awareness of
potential hazards from their indiscriminate use, especially their effects on the
environment, on man, and on the overall ecosystem. Throughout the region,
cstimates of crop losses (fue to all pests range from 10% to 30% per year,
depending on crop and cnvironment: at the same time, reports of pesticide
poisoning of humans and livestock are frequent. Furlhermore, the symptoms of
irrational pe:;ticide use - pest resurgences, development of resistarce to select
pesticides - arc increasingly felt in many countries. To balance the twin needs
of more food for growing p)ptirat ions and a cleaner, safer environment requires
sound policy supported by credile science. Towards this end, de management
of pesticidcs and tle nmnacemnt of' pests, which are often treated separately,
need to be considered togethir as a single activity. The theme of this book,
which relcts the theme of the workshop, is therefore pesticide management in
the context of Integra)ted Pest lanagernen t (1PM).
IPM has been the conceptual basis for most of modern plant protection
since thc 1960s. The concept developed as a response to evidence of pesticide
failurcs due to resistance development; but since then, IPM has become a focal
point for interdisciplinary probleir-solving in plant protection. In practice, IPM
implies a "need-based" al)plication Cf pesticides, and jurdicious use of pesticides
in the context of a "best-rnix" of control methods, such that there is no sole
reliance on any one method for a prolonged period. Tire decision to use
pesticides is made after appropriate deteimination of the magnitude of a pest
problem, using sound niethodology for pest intensity assessment and sampling,
with a knowledge of the yield los.ses caused by the pest, and whether these losses
exceed certain thresholds for action. IPl decisions on the level of a single field
may often be influenced by the larger environment, since pests do not commonly
recognize artificiai boundaries. Surveillance systems have been implemented in
several Southeast Asian cotmtries to provide early warning of pest spread, so that
a safety period is ,!vailed for making corrective ai-tions. To practice IPM also
requires that some basic infrastrcture be present for plant protection, but this
does not appear to be a constraint in the region. IPM technology has reached
differeit levels of development and imnplementation for different pest-crop
systems in Southeast Asia, and this will be shown by the papers in this book.
We have organized the chapters so that readers will first be given an overview of
the organizational aspects of IPM in national programs, followed by specific
research highlights, and then aspects of IPM development and implementation.
The buildup of pest populations resistat to specific pesticides is a matter of
concern to farmers, to IPM practitioners, and to the arochemical industry. The
status of this phenomenon is presented through a regional overview and specific
country reports.
Problems associated with pesticide poisoning and pesticide residues are
covered by twelve papers in the book. These chapters highlight methodology