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Integrated Pest Management (IPM) a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks. It is an applied ecology approach for protecting and improving human, animal, and plant health in a way that is sensitive to the environment and to sustaining natural resources. IPM involves the selection, integration, and implementation of control as determined by anticipated economic, ecological, and sociological consequences. IPM has become the standard method for protecting human valued resources from pests. The primary tools of IPM are host plant resistance, biological control, cultural control and a number of artificial interventions including chemical control. The practices of IPM require accumulating biological, ecological, and physiochemical information about the site before the program will be applied, then devising an ecologically, economically, and sociologically acceptable IPM program. This is an interdisciplinary endeavor requiring an understanding and collaboration among entomologists, plant and animal scientists, plant pathologists, soil and weather specialists, and a host of others including statisticians, economists, and sociologists,as well as producers, industry, and federal and state agencies.
Extension Agents-IPM implement education and demonstration programs
in many areas of the state to assist clientele in understanding
and practicing integrated pest management. Programs are single
county, multiple county or statewide depending on the needs of
the commodity. Most of these programs are currently oriented to
serve agricultural needs. County level IPM programs are conducted
by 25 Extension Agent-IPM faculty working cooperatively and in
concert with Extension Agents-Agriculture and the Texas Pest Management
Association, a nonprofit producer association, to serve the needs
of growers of 13 different crops in 54 Texas counties. IPM programs
are supported technically by specialists in entomology, plant
pathology, soil and crop sciences, agricultural economics, horticulture
and other disciplines. Specialists are located on the Texas A&M
University campus and at 12 Research and Extension Centers located
throughout the state.
This page is maintained by Dr. Tom Fuchs ( tfuchs@tamu.edu
), Professor and Extension IPM Coordinator, 7887 N. Hwy 87,
San Angelo, TX 76901.
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Return to Extension EntomologyReturn to Department Home Page Last modified: August 21, 1997 by Rudolf Bendixen