Integrated Pest Management

Millions of insects zapped with gamma-rays and let loose into the wild to destroy their mates – the very thought of it is enough to make any self-respecting greenie choke on his tofu.

In fact, the technology known as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is as environmentally friendly as it gets, and forms a major part of integrated pest management as mainstream farmers move away from spraying poisons on their crops.

Host insect pupae, such as fruit flies are irradiated with gamma-rays, rendering the emerging insects sterile. These insects are then shipped out to farms, where they mate with "wild" females, making the latter sterile in turn.

Developing an industry around environmentally friendly pest control is pre-eminently a government-driven project. It requires long-term thinking and a culture change, with farmers' objections ranging from superstition to real concerns about higher costs and lower efficiencies.

Integrated pest management only really starts working if most farmers in an area act together to suppress a pest, and total eradication requires the cooperation of the local non-farming communities as well.

The technology is new and risky, and the mass production of insects is difficult and capital-intensive. An insectaryís temperature, humidity and sanitation has to be managed precisely. With SIT, the radiation requires even more capital and controls.

The fact that the industry has taken hold at all is an interesting measure of how strong an economic force environmentally friendly farming methods have become. Pressure from export markets to move away from chemicals and the resistance of pests to those chemicals have each had their hand in the success of integrated pest management programs such as SIT.

The varied methods of integrated pest management seem to be the answer, and farmers are adopting them fast. But the problem is cash and credibility. When the chemicals are cheaper, it is hard to convince a cash-strapped farmer to think medium-term.

There is also the problem of credibility of integrated methods. If you have your life savings tied up in the next harvest, as farmers continually do, the temptation to reach for the tried and tested can of poison is too much. Experimenting with integrated methods is simply postponed to better years.

The result is a limited yet growing application of bio-friendly pest control. The uptake among farmers is expected to grow exponentially as the use of predator insects gain credibility and knowledge of their application spreads.

Europe is leading the way in the implementation of integrated pest management solutions, and is home to the largest mass producer of predator insects at the Netherlands-based Koppert, which delivers €52-million worth of insects to European tunnel farmers a year.