Have you ever asked, is cultural control similar to pest control? What is cultural control anyway, how does it work, and how is it used?
There are many ways by which pests in a neighborhood can be dealt with, and one of those is to call for pest control. Pest control services utilize a variety of methods, substances, and techniques to exterminate any kind of pests depending on the location and preferences of the owner.
Meanwhile, for people who are uncomfortable with such services, there are also other options to exterminate any species of pest sharing their home. Many such individuals result in DIY methods and application, while some get inclined toward cultural pest control.
How Does Cultural Control Compare To Pest Control?
First of all, people use both cultural control and pest control for the same purpose, that is minimization and elimination of pests on a particular property. As they are both working for the same cause, the information inputs in these two are the same, and that is regarding the species involved in the problem.
To make it more specific, cultural control works with techniques that take into account the biological makeup and behavior of pests (insects, for example). Later on, we’ll delve deeper into what cultural control is, but to put it in simpler terms, cultural control takes advantage of how the pests live and reproduce to pull a stop to their infestations.
Pest control, on the other hand, handles pest situations with a straightforward and present approach; that is, what you have at hand, that’s what they’ll deal with. While pest control does have preventive measures under their belt, their services are usually called upon after the infestation has already set in or has already started spreading.
Check this article tackling what are the important pest control equipment.
In a way, pest control can be considered as an umbrella term and you can see cultural control as practice underneath it. After all, cultural control is another way to avoid pests as applied to a certain environment.
Pest control is done using the following methods:
- Mechanical pest control
- Biological pest control
- Chemical pesticides
- Natural and organic pest control methods
Cultural pest control would fall under natural pest control methods.
Note that the choice on which method to use is guided by goals to maximize benefits and minimize the setbacks into what’s within the owner’s capacity; all within each method’s limitation and applicability.
What is cultural control?
By definition, cultural control refers to any manipulation done on a certain environment, or conditioning done to a host or process to avoid or stop pest infestation. As mentioned earlier, these practices make use of the knowledge on a particular pests’ feeding, reproduction, habitat, and life cycle, to control their spread.
Cultural control also houses different ways to deal with pests, all of which disrupt the typical relationship between the host, pest, and environment. It usually targets one or a number of the survival and reproduction preferences of a specific pest; that is it gets in the way of such species’ way of life.
Since cultural control benefits well from vast knowledge on a particular pest’s behavior, it requires huge input on prior research than input on resources that are to be applied to the area.
By working directly against a specific pests’ instincts, cultural control methods are highly effective. Unfortunately, since it’s highly targeted, what works for a single species may not work for the others; worse, what you against one may be favorable to another.
How is cultural control used on pests?
Cultural control targets pests’ lifespan and possible infestation sites. For example, when a certain pest likes its habitat wet or moist, you can reduce the water content and humidity in the area to less than what they require, but survivable for your plants.
Cultural control is typically applied to plant farms, both indoor and outdoor set-ups. As such, it can take into account the type of crop you’re growing and farming schedules.
In the same example before, if the border between what your crop needs and what the pests need to survive, layering can be done for every crop to trap the moisture in and keep the pests out.
On pest reproduction, cultural control can make it so the environment for such, for laying eggs(or any offspring) and the like, will never or rarely occur in the environment.
What are examples of cultural control methods?
Cultural control methods can be done from simple scheduling up to adjusting planting schedules and spacing. You can also root suitable plant repellent crops along with your intended plant; of course, whilst ensuring the crops don’t harm each other.
Here are some common cultural methods used in the field:
- Adjusting planting and harvest times
- Crop rotation
- Irrigation
- Application of trap crops
- Mulches
- Crop spacing and arrangement
- Intercropping
- Tillage
- Controlling available nutrients
Multiple methods of cultural control can be done at the same time on a single farm. It is favorable to use any such method that controls more than one pest organism.
It is also ideal to use as much cultural control as possible and lessen the need to use chemical substances to fight off pestilence.
Read this article necessary to know the question “is pest control safe for humans?”.
Conclusion
The answer to your question “is cultural control similar to pest control” is yes! More than just being similar, the former is a type of the latter; both being proven effective against pests.