Alabama Integrated Pest Management
Information Center
Auburn University - Auburn, Alabama 36849 - Phone: (334) 844-5098

What is IPM?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks (USDA ERS definition).

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the coordinated use of pest and environmental information with available pest control methods to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment (EPA definition).

Examples of methods that could be integrated in an IPM program:

• Changing crop production methods to prevent pests, such as the use of fallow periods to reduce populations of certain key pests.
  
• Using crop scouts to identify if and when pests and diseases are actually present in the field, rather than spraying chemicals frequently just in case.
  
• Carefully choosing pesticides that manage an insect pest while not killing the beneficial organisms that are doing a good job of controlling another pest.
  
• The use of physical control methods when economically feasible, such as cultivation of weeds or tillage to bury pathogens.
• Using techniques that minimize chemical applications, such as "wiping" technology for applying herbicides directly to weed surfaces.
  

Additional reading

• Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)