Integrative Pest Management

We Follow the National Pest Management Association’s Quality Pro Program

At NAZTREEHC, we believe that it is our responsibility to care for the surrounding environment while maintaining a balance approach to meet the needs of our customers and the trees we care for. We utilize an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach, which includes an effective combination of treatment methods grounded in evidence-based research.

NAZTREEHC technicians apply scientifically tested products, proven and registered by the Environmental Protection Agency, with the utmost consideration of the potential impact on the ecology of each individual property. This allows us to achieve acceptable levels of disease and vector insect control with the least possible impact on humans, non-target organisms, and the environment.  

What is IPM?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. In combination with available pest control methods, this information is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.

The IPM approach can be applied to agricultural and non-agricultural settings, such as the home, garden, and workplace. IPM takes advantage of all appropriate pest management options, including, but not limited to, the judicious use of pesticides. In contrast, organic food production applies many of the same concepts as IPM. Still, it limits the use of pesticides to those produced from natural sources, as opposed to synthetic chemicals.

How do IPM programs work?

IPM is not a single pest control method but, rather, a series of pest management evaluations, decisions, and controls. In practicing IPM, growers aware of the potential for pest infestation follow a four-tiered approach. The four steps include:

Set Action Thresholds

Before taking any pest control action, IPM first sets an action threshold, a point at which pest populations or environmental conditions indicate that pest control action must be taken. Sighting a single pest does not always mean control is needed. The level at which pests become an economic threat is critical to guide future pest control decisions.

Monitor and Identify Pests

Not all insects, weeds, and other living organisms require control. Many organisms are innocuous, and some are even beneficial. IPM programs monitor pests and identify them accurately to make appropriate control decisions in conjunction with action thresholds. This monitoring and identification remove the possibility that pesticides will be used when needed or the wrong kind of pesticide will be used.

Prevention

As the first line of pest control, IPM programs manage the crop, lawn, or indoor space to prevent pests from becoming a threat. This may mean using cultural methods in an agricultural crop, such as rotating between different crops, selecting pest-resistant varieties, and planting pest-free rootstock. These control methods can be very effective and cost-efficient and present little to no risk to people or the environment.

Control

Once monitoring, identification, and action thresholds indicate that pest control is required and preventive methods are no longer effective or available, IPM programs then evaluate the proper control method for effectiveness and risk. Effective, less risky pest controls are chosen first, including highly targeted chemicals, such as pheromones to disrupt pest mating, or mechanical control, such as trapping or weeding. If further monitoring, identifications, and action thresholds indicate that less risky controls are not working, then additional pest control methods would be employed, such as targeted spraying of pesticides. Broadcast spraying of non-specific pesticides is a last resort.

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