Effect of Integrated Pest Management on Crop Productivity and Sustainable Pest Control

Abstract

The adoption of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach is one of the tools that can be used to improve crop productivity while minimizing excessive pesticide usage and its economic and environmental consequences. The present study compared the efficacy of IPM with the conventional pest management system for pest suppression, crop productivity, pesticide usage and economic performance. The experimental field design was a design that allowed for the evaluation of IPM and conventional pest-management treatments in replicated field conditions. The IPM treatment included frequent pest monitoring, cultural, biological control, mechanical and selective pesticide use according to pest thresholds. The results indicated that IPM significantly lowered the incidence and severity of pests as compared to conventional management. The pest incidence rates in the conventional and IPM treatment were 29.97% and 18.42%, respectively and the pest severity rate in the conventional and IPM treatment were 24.35% and 14.76%, respectively. The productivity of the crops was also enhanced under IPM, as yield increased from 4.17 to 4.82 t ha⁻¹. Furthermore, the number of pesticide applications decreased from 5.00 to 3.00 applications and the total amount of pesticide use was reduced by 40.34%. The economic assessment showed higher profit under IPM (PKR 44,950 to 74,200 ha⁻¹) and the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) rose (from 1.37 to 1.63). In general, the results showed that IPM was an effective method of pest suppression and at the same time higher production of crop, less dependency on pesticide and higher economic returns. The study thus lends support to the general practice of IPM by enhancing farmer training, agricultural extension, availability of biological-control and adoption of pest monitoring, and the use of selective pesticides. IPM can play a significant role in increasing productive, profitable and environmentally responsible agricultural production systems.