A Systems Approach to IPM Integration, Ecological Assessment and Resistance Management in Tree Fruit Orchards

Abstract

Twentieth century Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was indisputably marked by the dominance of organophosphate (OP) insecticides for pest control in U.S., European, and Australasia specialty crop production (Perry et al. 1998, Ware and Whitecre 2004). Even though this early IPM period brought forth the concepts of economic thresholds, and robust pest monitoring and modeling (i.e. synthetic pheromones, traps, computers, systems engineering, etc.), once a control action was deemed necessary, the application of a lethal agent to kill the target pest followed before injury could occur (Metcalf 1980). This approach was successful in part because most conventional broad-spectrum insecticides, regardless of chemical class, carried a similar set of performance attributes, as all were fast-acting contact nerve poisons. Thus, the success of the organophosphates, carbamates and synthetic pyrethroids led to a narrow concept of pest control, and reduced the perceived need for scientific investigation for anything beyond the determination of acute toxic effects of insecticides on the target pest and beneficials. One notable exception to this concept was the emergence of pheromone-mediated control, which provided important new avenues in specialty crop IPM beyond chemical control tactics, and is likely to have expanded application in the twenty-first century (Gut et al. 2004).