What is the difference between IPM and organic production?
IPM, or Integrated Pest Management, differs from organic production in three ways. First, IPM only addresses pest control and not fertility. Second, IPM focuses on reducing chemical sprays, but has no compunction about using them when indicators point to a need. Third, IPM allows for the use of any synthetic pesticide as a last resort measure, rather than restricting to natural and least toxic materials. What synthetic materials does the NOSB recommend for use in crop production? Petroleum oil and soaps are allowed for insect control because of their benign nature to people and the environment. They also do little harm to beneficial insects. Pheromones are chemicals identical to those given off by insects in locating food or mates. They are used in small quantities to lure pests to traps in the field, or to confuse them so that they wont mate. Pheromones have been revolutionary throughout agriculture in reducing pesticide usage. Copper and sulfur compounds can stop plant diseases that
IPM, or Integrated Pest Management, differs from organic production in three ways. First, IPM only addresses pest control and not fertility. Second, IPM focuses on reducing chemical sprays, but has no compunction about using them when indicators point to a need. Third, IPM allows for the use of any synthetic pesticide as a last resort measure, rather than restricting to natural and least toxic. Organic Farming More Productive Long-term than Conventional Farming Yields on farms using conventional synthetic fertilizers and pesticides have been steadily declining for the last 20 years, shows an ominous report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jun 12;104(24):10282-7. Over the past 40 years, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use has increased 7-fold, and pesticide use has increased 3-fold, yet crop yield continues to decrease because the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, organochlorine pesticides and other synthetic agrichemica
