Pest control involves preventing pests from becoming a problem, suppressing existing populations to acceptable levels, and eradicating them when necessary. Threshold levels, based on aesthetic or health concerns, dictate when action should be taken.
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Getting ahead of pests is the best way to save money and hassle, and preventive methods are usually less invasive than eradicating an infestation once it has taken hold. This is why pest management has shifted from monitoring and reacting to preventing and controlling pests.
Prevention starts with a careful inspection of the facility, finding and sealing entry points such as cracks and crevices where pests might enter. Also, the exterior should be free of attractive attractants such as trash piles, woodpiles and overgrown grass and shrubs.
Indoors, facilities should have strict sanitation programs to keep food and other supplies clean from contamination. This includes keeping floors and surfaces dry, avoiding overstocking storage spaces, putting products away promptly, using clear or color-coded containers to identify stored items and not leaving open packages or containers in the open for too long.
Another key preventive measure is to keep garbage and other wastes tightly sealed in trash containers inside the facility. This reduces the risk of odor and rodent attraction. In addition, storing goods in sealed containers or on pallets with tight lids helps control pest activity during transport and storage.
While good sanitation and inspection help ward off pests, they aren’t enough to ensure a building will never have a problem. The reality is that even the cleanest, best-maintained buildings can fall victim to pests if conditions are right and a proper detection program isn’t in place.
This is why implementing an integrated pest management (IPM) program can help. IPM emphasizes treating only for observed problems, allowing staff to stay focused on the business and helping reduce the environmental impact of chemical pesticides.
IPM programs are becoming increasingly important for facility types such as food processing, manufacturing, distribution and warehousing. This is largely due to the Food Safety Modernization Act, which requires companies to have a pest management program in place and maintain it. IPM programs are often tailored to the specific needs of each facility, with staff focusing on pest types that could have an adverse impact on operations. For example, a facility processing chicken may need to have an especially robust fly control program, while a warehouse that stores grain might be more prone to infestation by psocids and minute brown scavenger beetles.
Suppression
Many crop pests are effectively controlled by predators, parasitoids and other natural enemies (living organisms that prey upon or attack living organisms regarded as pests). This form of pest control is called biological control. Biological control is important because it reduces the need for chemical pesticides. It is also safer for the environment and human beings. It has been used for 3000 years and is very effective when used properly. It is a very important part of any Integrated Pest Management program.
The goal of suppression in pest control is to bring the pest population down to an acceptable level. This can be done by a variety of methods including physical barriers, cultural practices, genetic modification and use of chemicals or biocontrol agents. Physical barriers can include netting or other coverings that prevent insect pests from reaching the crop; mulch to inhibit weed germination; or a combination of these methods. Cultural practices can include using tolerant or resistant varieties of crops; minimizing water stress in the field by deep irrigation; and pruning to remove diseased, damaged and crowded branches that block light. Chemical controls can include spraying weeds with herbicides or applying fungicides.
Biocontrol agents or “natural enemies” are insects, nematodes, bacteria and other organisms that prey on or parasitize crop pests. These organisms can be conserved and released to help suppress pest populations, or they can be purchased from biological control companies. This process is referred to as augmentation and is most effective when the pest population is low and when multiple releases are made over time. Some pests have very specific natural enemy guilds that need to be addressed in augmentation, and others may respond to a general release of predators or parasitoids.
The most common method of augmentation is to purchase predators or parasitoids that target a particular pest, such as a mite, caterpillar, thrips or beetle. Most of these natural enemies are fairly easy to find and can be purchased from a catalog or from a company that specializes in selling them. The release of these organisms should be done according to directions that the seller provides, as well as the guidelines provided by the pesticide label. It is very important that the release of predators and parasitoids not be confused with the application of a pesticide, as the use of a chemical will often kill these beneficial organisms.
Eradication
Pest control can involve the use of chemical, biological, and physical means to keep pest numbers low and damage to a minimum. These methods may include trapping, barriers, fencing, screens, and the use of heat, radiation, electricity or other devices to alter the environment and deter or eradicate the pest. There are also natural pest control methods that use herbs, plants, minerals or other organic materials to prevent and remove pests from structures, buildings or gardens. In addition, proper sanitation and regular inspections are essential for pest prevention.
Eradication is the ultimate goal of pest management. A pest is eradicated when the population has been reduced to a level that is considered acceptable by the community. The use of prevention, suppression and eradication in combination is usually the best way to control pests.
Several invasive foreign weeds are considered pests in California because they have been shown to cause significant harm to agricultural crops and wildlands. These plants can overrun fields and pastures, contaminate hay and other commodities, and invade forests, riparian corridors and estuaries. Eradicating these weeds is a top priority for the Sutter County Pest Program.
The eradication of a pest is generally based on the degree of harm it causes, the availability of resources to control it, and the state’s ability to prevent its return. Pests that are rated A are considered the most harmful and usually warrant the most intensive effort to eradicate them. A-Rated pests require a quarantine and are the focus of a joint state/county eradication project. A-Rated pests can be considered a threat to public health because of their potential for impact on human food and feed. B-Rated pests are of moderate concern and need to be controlled as a result. A-Rated pests need to be controlled if they are found in nursery stocks.
The success of eradication programs on islands has led to attention being focused on the control of species in habitat continua (Courchamp, Chapius and Pascal 2003). Understanding how landscape genetics affect dispersal capabilities can help guide this type of management, particularly as it is likely that re-invasion pressure will occur from adjacent unmanaged areas.
Monitoring
Monitoring is the key to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and is the basis of many of the tactics that distinguish it from other control strategies. This consists of checking for pests, assessing damage potential, and evaluating the effectiveness of prevention or avoidance tactics. It also helps determine if thresholds have been reached and whether or not control is needed.
Ideally, pests are detected and identified before they cause significant damage, which can save time and money in controlling them. Monitoring can be done by scouting (inspecting or looking for the presence of pests) or through trapping, tally sheets, and other data collection methods. In some cases, it may be necessary to examine the damage caused by a pest, such as examining museum collections for signs of rodent activity.
In a garden, monitoring for insect, insect-like, mollusk and vertebrate pests can be accomplished through visual inspection, while monitoring for weeds and microbial pests may be done by sampling soil or litter. Monitoring can also involve determining the environmental conditions, such as temperature and moisture levels, that might help predict when pest populations will reach damaging levels.
When monitoring, identification and action thresholds indicate that control is needed, IPM programs usually try to choose the least risky control method available that will be effective, such as cultural controls like crop rotation, cultivation practices or planting resistant varieties. If these are not effective or not available, then other less risky chemical controls may be used, such as pheromones to disrupt mating, neem oil, or physical controls like weeding or trapping. If these are not effective, then the use of pesticides will be considered.
In some situations, eradication is the desired goal, particularly in enclosed environments. This is most common in the case of invasive pests, such as Mediterranean fruit fly or gypsy moth, or where there are public health concerns, such as roaches and mice in dwellings, schools and offices, or flies and cockroaches in food facilities and hospitals. In such instances, eradication goals are usually supported by government agencies. Eradication is a less common goal for outdoor pests, where prevention and suppression are the more usual objectives.