When you cross pest control off the list, you raise the following question: how do you control pests aside from pest control. This guide will give you the alternatives you are searching all over the Internet.
Alternative Pest Control Methods
Before anything else, for those who are not that knowledgeable in pest control, this guide tackles how pest control is done. However, alternative pest control should be differentiated from organic pest control.
Despite the fact that pesticide use has become widespread over the world, various innovative pest management approaches are being developed.
These non-traditional pest control approaches are intended to reduce pest populations while also preserving the environment and human welfare.
Biological control, mechanical control, and cultural control are the most prevalent alternative pest management strategies. A complicated management approach termed as integrated pest management has been created in addition to these individual pest control methods.
1. Biological control
Biological control, in which natural predators of the pest are brought to prey on or parasitize the bug, is a popular alternative strategy for pest control. Farmers who use this strategy obtain natural pest predators and release them onto their areas so that the predators can control the insect population.
In addition to predators that will eat the pests, parasites of the pest can be introduced, which will infest the pest and cause injury or even death. The instance of the braconid wasp and hornworm caterpillars is an example of successful biological control.
Many crops’ leaves were being eaten by hornworm caterpillars, therefore wasps were established to regulate the hornworm population. Caterpillars are parasitized by wasps.
They release their eggs in the body of the caterpillar. The wasp larvae hatch, feed on the caterpillar, and eventually kill the caterpillar.
The wasps are able to diminish the hornworm population while boosting their own population using this biological control strategy. Biological controls can be beneficial, but they can also be harmful to the environment.
Biological control organisms can occasionally take over an area and harm non-pest organisms. Unfortunately, biological control organisms are nearly tough to eradicate once they have been introduced into the ecosystem.
It’s likely that if they behave differently than planned, they’ll cause greater harm than the pesticides they’re designed to replace.
2. Mechanical control
Controlling pests, such as weeds, insects, and illnesses, is essential for ensuring healthy crops. Pest management can take a variety of forms, including preventing pest invasion in the first place, optimum activity time, crop rotation, mechanical control tactics, and even supporting natural pest enemies.
The ways in which one could achieve this is categorized below.
- Enhancing crop tolerance
Provide crops with adequate nutrients and water, as well as soil variables that promote early establishment and vigorous development, to increase pest tolerance. Choose pest-resistant crop variants that are appropriate to the growth season and hardiness of the state’s various regions.
To improve crop competitiveness with weeds, limit bug infestations, and control other pest concerns, change the planting dates. Use increased plant population density within required range, narrow row spacing, and choose kinds with dense, quick growth to help crops cope with weeds.
- Optimizing mechanical control
Crops having various life cycles, growth patterns, and weed, pest, and disease tolerance should be rotated. To prevent weed reseeding and reduce perennial weed food stocks, mow or till at the right time.
Harvests should be timed to prevent weed seed generation or to reduce disease and insect mortality.
Control weed seedlings with crop cultivation and superficial tillage operations. For smaller, extra weed infestations, mow grass by hand or use a hoe.
When possible, use tillage procedures to bury infected crop waste.
3. Cultural control
The oldest ways for pest management are cultural control approaches, which begin with how you, the producer, run your gardening business. Cultural control strategies, according to many professional horticulturists, are the most crucial for preventing plant disease.
Before, during, and after your plants have been sown or transplanted, these strategies are targeted at preventing and/or minimizing insects, weeds, and illnesses.
There are many different types of control strategies in this category, including soil fertility maintenance, companion planting, crop rotation, plant species selection, weeding, pruning procedures, and gear sanitation, to mention a few.
Your motto should be to begin clean, maintain it clean, and finish clean. Ensure your clothing and tools have been completely washed and sanitized before or after a garden activity, especially if you have bug problems in your garden.
Rinse all muck and soil off garden tools with a garden hose and leave to dry. Sanitation of tools is impossible without first clearing all trash from the work surfaces.
Growers have a variety of goods to choose from in the form of primed alternatives from gardening stores, or they can manufacture their own for a fraction of the cost.
Conclusion
So, how do you control pests aside from pest control? The answers are here and whenever you need a good refresher about the topic, you can always do a quick rereading.
You will be easily reminded that there are a number of ways on how to beat those little villains. Here’s to a pest-free area!