*4.2.3 Biological pest control*

*Multifunctionality and Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture*

pest population reaches or exceeds the specified economic threshold.

mechanisms for preventing and suppressing pest populations.

important role in pest management in organic farming [13].

*4.2.2 Mechanical and physical pest control*

*4.2.1 Cultural pest control*

**4.2 Tactics used for pest prevention and suppression in organic farming**

A successful integrated pest management (IPM) program in organic farming incorporates a variety of pest management tactics such as cultural, mechanical/ physical, biological, and biopesticide (allowed for organic use) tactics individually or in combination. Each control tactic, discussed below, employs a different set of

The goal of cultural control is to alter the environment, the condition of the host, or the behavior of the pest to prevent or suppress an infestation. It disrupts the normal relationship between the pest and the host and makes the pest less likely to survive, grow, or reproduce [13]. In agricultural crops, crop rotation, selection of crop plant varieties, timing of planting and harvesting, irrigation management, crop rotation, and use of trap crops help reduce populations of weeds, microorganisms, insects, mites, and other pests. These cultural practices are more preventive than curative and thus may require planning in advance [13–15]. The diversified habitat provides these parasites and predators with alternative food sources, shelter, and breeding sites [16]. Tillage can cause destruction of the insect or its overwintering chamber, removal of the protective cover, elimination of food plants, and disruption of the insect life cycle generally killing many of the insects through direct contact, starvation or exposure to predators, and weather [13]. The use of trap strip crops can control insect damage at the field edges and at the same time avail refuge and food for beneficial insects. Insect resistance is an important component of pest and disease management. Quality-based resistance can be induced in plants through management of nutrients and irrigation. Intercropping and biodiversity play an

One of the simplest methods of physical or mechanical pest control is handpicking insects or hand-pulling weeds. This method works best in those situations where the pests are visible and easily accessible [17]. Physical or mechanical disruption of pests also includes such methods as mowing, hoeing, flaming, soil solarization, tilling or cultivation, and washing [17]. Animals such as kangaroos cause damage by eating yellow dates; hence, fruit bunches are covered to protect them from such damage [18]. Devices that can be used to exclude insect pests from reaching crops in organic farming include, but not limited to, row covers, protective nets with varying mesh

bodies. Unlike insect pests, plant pathogens including fungi, bacteria, virus, and nematodes are difficult to identify in the field and may need laboratory diagnosis. However, signs of insect damage and symptoms of plant diseases may be easily distinguished in the field. Weeds could be easily identified using key and field guides. Monitoring is the regular inspection or scouting of field crops for pests, including insects, pathogens, nematodes, and weeds, to determine their abundance and level of damage. It serves as an early warning system for the presence of pests and diseases providing information for decision-making regarding management action and evaluation of control methods. Insect pests can be monitored through visual observation, pheromone and light traps, sticky traps, water traps, yellow traps, sweep nets, beating trays, and pitfall traps. Scouting data are used to develop economic thresholds, a useful decision-making tool to start control action when a

**140**

Biological methods are the use of beneficial organisms that can be used in the field to reduce insect pest populations. Biological control is grouped into three categories: importation or classical biological control, which introduces pest's natural enemies to the locations where they do not occur naturally, augmentation involves the supplemental release of natural enemies, boosting the naturally occurring population, and conservation, which involves the conservation of existing natural enemies in the environment [19]. The role of beneficial species on pests is of relatively greater importance in organic agriculture than in conventional agriculture, because organic growers do not have recourse to highly potent insecticides (such as synthetic pyrethroids) with which to tackle major pest problems [13].
