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Integrated pest management
1PM may be the best approach to pest management. It combines a judicious
use of chemicals with various other control strategies. There are, however,
many constraints to its adoption (Bottrell 1987).
IDRC is supporting a unique project in the Philippines that involves an
interdisciplinary team of researchers working on integrated management of
rice and vegetable pests (Adalla 1990). They are working closely with farmers
in two villages to develop and field-test recommended 1PM strategies for rice
and vegetables. Their findings have been useful in identifying recommendations
for other areas and are being expanded to other 1PM projects in the
Philippines. However, the most important results relate to constraints concerning
the adoption of 1PM:
Trust in the use of chemicals and mistrust of the unknown 1PM
approach;
Household decision-making with regard to pest management; and
Pest monitoring.
The researchers found that farmers are using a number of chemical insecticides,
some of which are dangerous to their health. The farmers recognize the
dangers, and surveys indicate that half had experienced some pesticiderelated
effect. Even though pesticide-related deaths occurred, the farmers
continued to use chemical insecticides and sprayed more frequently than
required. To change the farmers' attitudes, the researchers carried out on-farm
experiments that demonstrated that 1PM is successful and allows a higher
return than the use of chemicals. On the basis of this, some farmers are
adopting the 1PM techniques.
A detailed study of decision-making and the role of women has shown that,
although women control household income, they rely on advice from men in
decisions on pest control in rice crops. However, women are more intimately
involved in vegetable production and make all the pest-management decisions
themselves. This knowledge allows extension workers to target their
advice and training programs more effectively.
Effective 1PM requires a thorough knowledge of the interaction between pest
and crop. This is often done by examining a portion of the plants to determine
the number and types of pests present. If a critical threshold is reached, the
farmers apply insecticides. In a situation where farmers claimed their eyesight
was not good enough for this type of active surveillance, one project team
trained school children as scouts. This system worked well as long as the
project subsidized the scouts' wages; farmers were unwilling to pay for the
service. The project team is now examining other labour-saving ways of
monitoring pests.
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