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About Us
County Impact Statements - Lincoln County
Integrated Pest Management - A System for Using All Available Tools
Pest control in row crops, whether insects, weeds or diseases, can be
achieved in a number of different ways. Usually at some point in the season a
pesticide has to be sprayed to control whatever pest needs to be controlled.
However, by utilizing different practices along the way, pesticide sprays can be
delayed or at least reduced and still control the pest.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a system that uses cultural, mechanical,
biological and chemical control measures and allows a farmer to evaluate a
certain pest or pests and then choose the appropriate measure. Farmers are like
anybody else in that they want to save money where they can and sometimes
spraying a pesticide is not the cheapest or best way to control a pest. Pest
identification, population estimate, economic treatment threshold, and growth
stage are questions that must be answered before choosing a treatment.
Programs conducted that facilitate the use of IPM were: Cotton Moth Trapping
Program - to assist in giving an estimate in the population percentage of cotton
bollworms and budworms, Stinkbug control demonstrations - to evaluate the
efficacy of 31 insecticides in controlling stinkbugs so that producers could use
the best chemical, COTMAN demonstration - to assist farmers in deciding when to
stop insecticide applications for cotton, Soybean Border Irrigation
demonstration - to allow farmers to plant beans on very narrow rows and still be
able to irrigate, closer rows help in shading out weeds, Rice Multiple Inlet
Irrigation demonstration - to allow farmers to more quickly flood fields and
thus improve weed control.
Multiple Inlet Rice Irrigation is just one of the many aspects
of Integrated Pest Management.
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Impacts
- Producers involved in COTMAN demonstrations saved approximately $20 per
acre on insecticide costs by knowing when to stop spraying.
- Producers involved in Multiple Inlet Rice Irrigation realized a 30%
reduction in water usage and pumping time. At a well discharge of 1000
gallons per minute, $79.50 is saved for each day pumping time is reduced.
- Rice producers saved $6/acre by using new insecticide, with a longer
residual control, because fields did not have to be treated again.
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