Organic Farming - Organic Farming Pest Control
What is Organic Farming? | Organic
Farming Overview | Organic
Farming Methods | Organic
Farming Fertilization
Organic Farming Pest Control | Organic
Farming and Crop Planning | Organic
Farming and Livestock | Organic
Farming Systems
Organic Farming Pest Control
Differing approaches to pest control are equally notable. In chemical farming, a specific insecticide may be applied to quickly kill off a particular insect pest. Chemical controls can dramatically reduce pest populations for the short term, yet by unavoidably killing (or starving) natural predator insects and animals, cause an ultimate increase in the pest population. Repeated use of insecticides and herbicides and other pesticides also encourages rapid natural selection of resistant insects, plants and other organisms, necessitating increased use, or requiring new, more powerful controls.
In contrast, organic farming tends to tolerate some pest populations while looking to the long haul. Organic pest control involves the cumulative effect of many techniques, including:
- allowing for an acceptable level of pest damage;
- encouraging predatory beneficial insects to flourish and eat pests;
- planting companion crops that discourage or divert pests;
- using row covers to protect crops during pest migration periods;
- rotating crops to different locations from year to year to interrupt pest reproduction cycles.
Each of these techniques also provides other benefits——soil protection and improvement, fertilization, pollination, water conservation, season extension, etc.—and these benefits are both complementary and cumulative in overall effect on farm health. Effective organic pest control requires a thorough understanding of pest life cycles and interactions.
Organic pest control is not synonomous, but shares some concepts with
integrated pest management.