Plant Gardens 101

Biological Control of pests requires active human role. Here reduction of pest population is made effective by natural enemies. These natural enemies of insect pests are called biological control agents. They include predators, parasitoids and pathogens.

Predators are such species which consume a large number of preys during their life span that are lady beetles and lace wings. Parasitoids finally kill the host. Their immature stage develops on or within that single host and most have a very narrow host range for example wasps and flies. Pathogens are organisms which cause diseases for example bacteria, fungi, viruses. They also kill the host.

Biological control strategies are basically of three types- Conservation, Classical Biological Control and Augmentation. (more…)

Pest control means management of a species creating problems for human beings directly or indirectly, since it is considered to be harmful to an individual’s health, the economy or the ecology.Pest management is at least as old as agriculture as it was necessary to keep crops free from unwanted animals and insects.

Chemical control dates back 4500 years, with the Sumerians usingSulphur compounds as insecticides. InIndia the Rig Veda, which is about 4000 years old mentions the use of poisonous plants for pest control. But chemical management became widespread with industrialization and mechanization of agriculture in 18th and 19th century, and the introduction of insecticides Pyrethrum and Derris Today chemical pest control is the dominant type of pest control. But its aftereffects have led people to think about alternatives in the form of traditional and biological pest control. (more…)

Pests in one kind or the other are found throughout the planet. Whether they are the insects, bacteria, mites, snails, nematodes, viruses, rodents or birds, all come under the head pest if found in unwanted areas or in unnecessarily huge numbers. Pests have the potential to wipe out entire economies and make the people starve if allowed to propagate and act unchecked.

Even the ancient civilizations understood the necessity of pest control. Those days, pesticides available from natural sources were used. With the advent of the industrial age and rapid growth of population, requirement for food and raw materials from natural sources increased manifold necessitating more areas coming under commercial agriculture. Chemical pesticides or synthetic pesticides proved their worth during this period as they not only could remove pests from large areas in no time, the left overs also could act as repellents too for some period of time. That they are available to counter all kinds of pest infestations under the sun makes more and more people gravitate towards them in no time. (more…)