16 Different Cultural Methods of Pest Control In IPM

The cultural practices aim at either reducing insect population or inoculums potential of pathogens or preventing damage due to the pests either by encouraging healthy growth of plants or circumventing the attack by changing various agronomic practices. It is primarily aimed at the prevention and reduction of pest outbreaks.

1. Destruction of crop residues like dry leaves, stubble, ear heads, or other plant parts results to a large extent in the elimination of hibernation and shelter sites for insects. Destruction of maize stubble breaks the life cycle of stem borer (Chilo partellus). After harvesting of rice, water is stagnation for 4-5 days to destroyed stubble and damage any stage of rice borer.
2. Use of clean planting material: If planting material is already infected it spread to a new area. The use of insect free planting material is also an important prerequisite for clean cultivation. Eg farmer clip the tip of rice seedling to remove egg of Rice Hispa (Dicladispa armiger) before transplanting.
3. Eradication of affected plants and plants parts: It prevents from spreads to non infection plant parts and area from infected plant and area.
4. Destruction of weeds, alternative hosts: It breaks the life cycle of insects. Initial stage of nymph of Grasshopper consume weed and after 2-3 nymphal stage it move to crop field.
5. Harvesting Time: Potato Tuber Moth (Phthorimaea operculella) cause more damage on potato if not harvesting at timely.
6. Tillage: Summer ploughing and up-turning of the lower layer of soil exposes the soil to the summer heat which destroyed the soil inhibiting insect. Most of grasshopper and field cricket lay egg in 5-10 cm of soil and tillage exposes it on soil surface. It expose the larvae of insect to upper layer which may consume by vertebrate.
7. Crop rotation: Rotation of crops or change in sequence of cropping patterns result in a much lower incidence of pests. The main principle, as far as control of pests is concerned is to disrupt the continuity in readily available food supply or host plant, with the result that the organisms will face starvation and there will be a consequential decline in population.
8. Adjustment of sowing or planting: Time Adjustment of the date of sowing may be profitably practiced to circumvent attack by pests by avoiding the peak period of attack. Okra planted during Chaitra-Baisakh suffers more severe damage from fruit and shoot borer than those planted during the rainy season.
9. Use of recommended dose of fertilizer: Healthy and vigorous plants are able to resist the attack of a given pest better. The dose of fertilizer should be as recommended dose. If Nitrogen dose is higher than recommended it causes more attack of insect to crop. For the control of aphids, hopper, mealy bug etc.
10. Use of healthy seed: Not contaminated by egg of insect. Eg Nematodes.
11. Grow resistance verities: Some plants posses the inherent character of producing an optimum yield of good quality despite association with economic insect pests. The variety of crop possessing this sort of character is known as a resistance variety. Hairy varieties are less preferred by cotton bull worm.
12. Irrigation: Flooding of fields has been recommended for reducing the attack of cutworm, armyworm, termites, white grubs etc.
13. Crop diversification: Monocropping system is high infection and probability of all destruction.
14. Crop Spacing: Damage by brown plant hopper, Chickpea pod borer, Whitefly, is higher in closely planted crop.
15. Trap Cropping

16. Intercropping: Tomato intercropped with cabbage has been reported to inhibit or reduced egg laying by Diamond Black Moth.

Author Credit: Mr. Rameshwor Pudasaini