What is Integrated Pest Management?
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a broad approach to pest management that focuses on addressing the reason that the pest problem exists rather than on just the pest itself. IPM accomplishes this by eliminating the three things pests need to survive: food, water and shelter. There are five common steps involved in practicing IPM. They include inspection, pest identification, the establishment of pest tolerance levels, implementation of an effective control strategy (such as caulking cracks in sidewalks or walls, moving dumpsters away from buildings and appropriate pesticide applications), and an evaluation of effectiveness. To be acceptable, the pest management measures must be both environmentally compatible and economically feasible. The National Pest Management Association and its members support and advocate the use of IPM.
A. Pests are “injurious” insect species, plant pathogens, noxious or invasive vegetation, vertebrate animals such as rodents, structural pests or and other factors that create an unhealthy environment for landscapes and structures. Integrated pest management, or IPM, is a decision-making process to determine if, when, where and how pests will be managed.
