Insects (2015) 6, 152-182

Selected publication you are invited to contribute to the discussion section (above tab)

Jules Pretty and Zareen Pervez Bharucha (2015)
Integrated Pest Management for sustainable intensification of agriculture in Asia and Africa
Insects 6 (1), 152-182
Abstract: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a leading complement and alternative to synthetic pesticides and a form of sustainable intensification with particular importance for tropical smallholders. Global pesticide use has grown over the past 20 years to 3.5 billion kg/year, amounting to a global market worth $45 billion. The external costs of pesticides are $4–$19 (€3–15) per kg of active ingredient applied, suggesting that IPM approaches that result in lower pesticide use will benefit, not only farmers, but also wider environments and human health. Evidence for IPM's impacts on pesticide use and yields remains patchy. We contribute an evaluation using data from 85 IPM projects from 24 countries of Asia and Africa implemented over the past twenty years. Analysing outcomes on productivity and reliance on pesticides, we find a mean yield increase across projects and crops of 40.9% (SD 72.3), combined with a decline in pesticide use to 30.7% (SD 34.9) compared with baseline. A total of 35 of 115 (30%) crop combinations resulted in a transition to zero pesticide use. We assess successes in four types of IPM projects, and find that at least 50% of pesticide use is not needed in most agroecosystems. Nonetheless, policy support for IPM is relatively rare, counter-interventions from pesticide industry common, and the IPM challenge never done as pests, diseases and weeds evolve and move.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article

Database assignments for author(s): Jules Pretty

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phenacoccus manihoti
	Zeugodacus cucurbitae
Apoanagyrus lopezi (parasitoid)	Phenacoccus manihoti