Nonchemical crop protection: farm alternatives and IPM planning
To reduce or avoid pesticides in agriculture, start with prevention and monitoring for the pest and crop. Combine action thresholds, identification, prevention and control decisions within integrated pest management, or IPM. Seeing a pest does not automatically mean a treatment is needed.
Agree an action threshold
An action threshold marks the point where pest populations or environmental conditions indicate that control is needed. The economic threat is part of that decision.
Choose a control suited to the observation
Use pesticides judiciously when the IPM assessment calls for them.
Separate organic standards from the IPM decision
For certified organic production, the crop pest standard requires preventive practices including rotation, nutrient management, sanitation and cultural measures. Organic inputs also require certifier review. Use the organic farming guide to connect those requirements to the operation's plan.
Choose an objective that can be observed
Begin with the crop problem rather than the wish to avoid a spray. Use the crop’s established sampling method and compare the observations with its action threshold before authorizing control.
Use identification to avoid unnecessary work
Identify the organism accurately and establish whether it causes damage requiring control. A natural enemy found among pests is a different management question from an additional pest individual.
Make prevention a crop-specific plan
Preventive options include crop rotation, pest-resistant varieties and pest-free planting material, including rootstock. Use these preventive choices before or during crop establishment. Discuss which options fit the crop, local pest history and available planting material.
Plan sanitation around the route of spread
For organic crops, remove disease vectors, weed seeds and pest habitat through sanitation.
Match mechanical work to the actual target
Organic weed-management options include mowing, hand weeding, mechanical cultivation, grazing, and certain thermal or electrical means.
Include natural enemies in the decision
Pest-control options include introducing or augmenting predators and parasites and developing natural-enemy habitat. Identify the beneficial organism and its interaction with the target pest.
Organic farms should connect escalation to the system plan
Under §205.206(e), when the specified management practices are insufficient, the listed categories of substances may be used subject to the conditions documented in the organic system plan. Obtain certifier approval before using a substance.
Beneficial insects in crop protection: identification and conservation
Use UC IPM’s Natural Enemies Gallery to help identify these organisms. Beneficial organisms are not all insects; the gallery also covers other natural enemies, including pathogens.
Identify the organism and its prey
For California farms and landscapes, compare likely natural enemies with the gallery's photographs and prey lists. Search by the pest name or the natural enemy’s name, then compare the photograph and listed prey.
Record which pest the beneficial is attacking
Natural enemies kill pests, reduce their reproduction or otherwise reduce their numbers.
Compare the proposed pesticide
Use the tomato guide's relative-toxicity table to compare insecticides and miticides for effects on natural enemies and honey bees.
Identify the organism and its life stage
Identify the natural enemy by scientific name as well as common name, family and order. Look for aphid midges, brown and green lacewings, bigeyed bugs, assassin bugs, predatory mites and lady beetles. Their prey lists differ.
Green lacewings illustrate why stage matters
Green lacewings develop through egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. Eggs occur on slender stalks. Adult color alone does not reliably distinguish green from brown lacewings.
Some green-lacewing species are commercially available. Conserve them by avoiding persistent broad-spectrum insecticides, managing ants and dust, and providing flowering resources.
Keep your spray records in one place. Free to start.
Bigeyed bugs require attention to lookalikes
Bigeyed bugs include Geocoris, Isthmocoris and related Geocoridae.
Bigeyed bugs prey on mites, insect eggs, aphids, small caterpillars and whiteflies. Conserve them in crops such as alfalfa and cotton.
Check which organisms a predator consumes
Assassin bugs are general predators that consume beneficial organisms as well as pests. They have a long head, needlelike mouthparts and variable coloration. Their contribution to biological control is smaller than that of some other predator groups.
Biopesticides for crop protection: types and farm-use checks
Biopesticides include microbial pesticides, biochemical pesticides and plant-incorporated protectants. Verify current product registration separately from the historical active-ingredient list.
Identify the class before comparing products
Microbial pesticides contain a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan as the active ingredient. Biochemical pesticides include substances used through mechanisms such as disrupting pest mating. Plant-incorporated protectants are pesticidal substances produced by plants from introduced genetic material.
Match the organism to the pest
Individual microbial active ingredients can have specific targets. Different Bt strains affect different insect larvae.
Check current product status
Start with EPA's biopesticide ingredient information, then follow its routes to product registration and labeling. The ingredient table can be sorted by ingredient, PC code and first-registration year. The year is historical information, not an expiry date or current-use approval.
Prepare the application discussion
Identify the pest and follow the biopesticide's label directions carefully. Check the required application conditions when preparing the job.
Organic suitability is a separate review
If the farm is certified organic, take the complete input and intended use to its certifier. Obtain certifying-agent approval before use.
Ask how the product reaches the target
Bt proteins act on susceptible insect larvae. Entomopathogenic fungal spores contact the insect's outer covering and cause infection. The distinction matters when assessing whether the proposed equipment and timing put the product where it needs to act.
Distinguish a fungal program from an immediate rescue expectation
Use entomopathogenic fungi preventively. Protect living spores under the product's storage and handling conditions.
Check compatibility with beneficial organisms explicitly
Check fungal-product compatibility with each natural enemy in the program. Biological-control organisms can differ in their susceptibility.
Treat pheromone use as a different operational question
Insect sex pheromones can interfere with mating. Scented extracts can attract pests to traps. Those examples describe different intended functions, so identify whether the proposal concerns monitoring, attraction or mating disruption.
Pesticides and soil health: crop protection and monitoring checks
Excessive pesticide and fertilizer use can harm soil health. Review pesticide use alongside tillage, soil cover, rotation, biodiversity and living roots.
Map soil cover through the calendar
Maintain protective soil cover with crop residues, cover crops or living mulches. Select a cover crop for the function needed in the rotation.
Keep living roots and rotation diversity explicit
Keep living roots in the soil and diversify rotations. Living roots supply food for soil microbes.
Avoid assigning every change to one product
For an amendment or biostimulant claim, including a humic product, plan the comparison with the person who will analyze it. Test biostimulants in replicated strips before adopting them across the operation.
Next step
Identify the pest and natural enemies using the Natural Enemies Gallery, then record the crop-specific threshold and selected controls. Organic operations should complete the input approval review before use.