The use of agronomic practices in integrated pest management programmes in horticulture

Abstract

IPM promotes the design of resilient systems that reduce both pest attacks and damage to cultivated plants. It is based on practices that foster plant tolerance and the control of pests by their natural enemies. The challenge is to combine those practices in a coherent system that should associate the benefits or even develop synergies among their identified partial effects and that should be operable for the farmer. The IPM practices considered in this chapter are related to a) the crop and its annual management; b) the enhancement of plant diversity in the cropping system at the field scale using companion plants and intercropping, as well as diversification with other cash crops. The chapter also provides c) some insights on the design of cropping systems that combine the above-mentioned IPM practices at field, farm and agrifood system scales. It also shows that designing such systems calls for additional research and new approaches.