IPM 



A Look Behind the Buzz Word 



Dennis Hayward 



Every organization has its own buzz words and 

 abbreviations. The industry in which I have cho 

 sen to have my career has a buzz word called 

 "IPIVI " It stands for "Integrated Pest Manage- 

 ment." In lawn and tree care, these words have become a 

 cliche, perhaps by overuse of the term and by underuse 

 of its intent. 



Let's dissect the term and look at the true meaning 

 behind it. 



INTEGRATED — as described by Webster's. "Bring into a 

 whole; make available equally to all; unite." 



PEST — "Noxious thing; nuisance (weeds, diseases, 

 insects)." 



MANAGEMENT — "Control; direct; manipulate; 

 continue." 



This basic exercise in English 101 is not to insult an 

 intelligent group of readers. It's to help you stop and ex- 

 amine buzz words that get to be used without thinking 

 because they're repeated so often. 



When effectively implementing an IPM program for any 

 facet of business in the Green Industry, there are basic 

 guidelines: 



identify the pest; 



determine the threshold at which action is needed; 



review all possible options; 



implement the appropriate control on a timely basis. 



It's that easy! Or is it? Did 1 mention budgets, avail- 

 ability, employee schedules, the weather? Nobody ever 

 said IPM would come easy. When I first started hearing 

 about IPM a decade ago, it sounded great. After working 

 with it, I know it's great, but I know it's not easy. 



Upon my graduation from the University of New 

 Hampshire, I had no fears of working in the ditches of 

 the field of horticulture. Some 17 years later, I fully real- 

 ize that horticulture is very much a thinking man's (and 

 woman's) field. Changes come fast; technology advances 

 quickly. If we remain spray jockeys, we will surely perish 

 as a profession. 



IPM must include pesticide spraying in order to obtain 

 the level of quality our customers demand. This is only 

 one piece of the puzzle, however. It must also include 



the options of using biological, cultural, mechanical, and, 

 yes — even manual methods. This difficult decision is 

 based on a complete set of variables — based on such 

 things as effectiveness, environmental impact, site char- 

 acteristics, worker health and safety, economics — which 

 must be plugged into the formula. The goal of all this is 

 to find that fine balance between benefit and minimal 

 impact to the environment. 



For all IPM programs, regardless of your field, success 

 depends on accurate determinations, timing, and the 

 right choice of control methods. 



Three basic steps can be used as a guide. 



A. Monitor the site for pests. In addition to acknowledg- 

 ing the presence, determine the level of infestation. Con- 

 firm the identity of the pest and know its life cycle. Is 

 the host in any danger from the pest? 



B. Know the threshold of damage. The pest should reach 

 a level of infestation prior to the commencement of con- 

 trol measures. A certain amount of damage may be toler- 

 able in the trade because of the health concerns of the 

 site keeper. 



C. Take an initial stand in preventative care to avoid that 

 damaging threshold Be proactive — and financially aware. 

 There's nothing negative about preventing a problem if it 

 can be done without health risk and large expense. In 

 structural pest control, this could be something as simple 

 as vacuuming. In greenhouses, it could be screening ob- 

 vious air inlets For turf, it might be the reduction of ni- 

 trogen during hot, humid weather. 



Yes, I know these components are basic to each of our 

 professions and most of our favorite hobbies. All we 

 need to do is to make ourselves stand back and take a 

 non-biased view — as non-biased as our souls will let us. 

 Pride and ignorance carry two quite different meanings. 



Don't be so proud of your hard-earned expertise that 

 you ignore new techniques. All those folks surfing the 

 world-wide web are questing for new knowledge "Old 

 dogs" and "learning new tricks" apply here! 



TEXTBOOK VERSUS REALITY 



Anyone who has had the pleasures of attending school 

 along with those of working in a profession knows that 

 these are two very different animals. What seems sensible 

 in a school textbook doesn't always work in the field. It 



THE PLANTSMAN 



