IPM VS. PHC:
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?
by Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County History During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was an approach to field crop management that farmers increasingly began to practice in the United States. It took barely a decade for farm agriculture to fully realize
the problems associated with the overreliance on pesticides when controlling pests. The classic example of the overuse of the chlorinated hydrocarbon (DDT) immediately comes to mind. Despite the astonishing success that synthetic pesticides usually have at killing pests, some
US Agriculture initially began to practice IPM with extensive row crop farming more than 60 years ago. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.)
have failed with disastrous results. This especially has occurred when the same material was used repeatedly over extended periods of time. For this reason, the IPM approach became necessary for US farmers managing extensive row crops. Approximately 20-25 years after
The use of GMO’s with crops such as Round-Up Ready soybeans & corn is certainly an IPM tactic, but emerging complications are a concern. (Photo Credit: Steven K. Rettke, Rutgers Coop. Ext.) Spring/Summer 2021
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