Opara Emma Umunna Dikeocha Godfrey
Plant products has since the creation of the world been the source of livelihood for both animals and man. These plants which are the primary producers have always been infested with pests and diseases. The use of IPM (integrated pest management. The control of these pests and diseases has become difficult in recent time and has also increased the economic losses while lack of effective control has always reduced yield. This in turn affects the sustainability of bumper harvest thereby hampering food security. Many methods have always been suggested for control of these common enemies of plants. These methods and measures include physical, cultural, biological and chemical. Physical includes the use of hand operations – hand picking, trapping burning etc. to reduce the pest populations in our farms. The cultural on the other hand involves cultivation operation which include crop rotation, tillage, flooding adjustment of planting and harvesting time, mulching etc. While biological control encourages the suppression of the pests through the action of some living organisms may include the use of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. All these have so far been tried as an effective control measures that have not left an undesired effect either on the plant or on the environment, the integrated pest management still deserve serious attention even though it has taken a center stage. A practical approach study and use of the IPM in the National research institute has proved to be a more dogmatic approach to the control of pests.
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