Permaculture Design Course, Section 14.
BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
PEST CONTROL
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Integrated pest management, or IPM, is a long-term prevention process to solve pest problems in a building or property that minimizes risks to people and the environment.
Integrated pest management in organic farming reduces the amount of pesticides used on food crops. IPM strategies focus mainly on managing insect pests such as aphids, thrips and moths. Incorporate IPM into your garden routine and you’ll be able to safely and organically control damaging insects.
There are three main aspects to Integrated pest management:
– Preventing pest infestation in the first place
– Monitoring the situation and keeping notes
– Controlling a pest infestation with regard to the environment, and other animals and plants
The procedure of IPM in five steps:
1. Cultural and hygiene measures – change the conditions to make them less favourable for pests, such as adjusting planting location or timing or crop rotation and cultivation techniques which expose pests to predation or destroy their food, shelter and breeding habitats.
2. Physical/mechanical control – prevent pests from entering the area using barriers and traps, or physically remove them.
3. Biological control – use predators, parasites or microbial pathogens to suppress pests
4. Pesticides as a last resort – use substances to kill or repel pests, selecting the least toxic options first and applying them only when needed instead of regular preventative spraying. For example, use pheromones to disrupt pest mating.
5. genetics – select pest resistant varieties developed by classical breeding or via genetic engineering. Save the seeds from plants that show resistance to pests, selecting pest-resistant varieties, and planting pest-free rootstock.
Governments also use regulatory controls to manage pests including quarantine and border controls to restrict the movement of pests and infestations.
Herbs & Plants That Repel Insects
Permaculture encourages mixed planting in orchards & gardens to encourage predator species, i.e. birds, wasps, beneficial insects.
| Plant this … | to repel these … | why? |
| Lavender | flies, mosquitoes and fleas | |
| Basil | mosquitoes and flies | |
| Catnip | cockroaches, mosquitoes, aphids, beetles and ants | |
| Lemon Balm | mosquitoes | citronella |
| Rosemary | mosquitoes | smell |
| Marigold | mosquitoes | smell |
| Chrysanthemums | cockoaches, lice, mites, Japanese beetles, silverfish, fleas and ticks | pyrethrum |
| Nasturtiums | cabbage loopers, squash bugs, aphids and white-flies | |
| Mint | mosquitoes and ants | |
| Lemongrass | mosquitoes | citronella |
| Clover | wire-worms and aphids | |
| Common Yarrow | ants | attracts beneficial insects |
| Petunias | leaf-hoppers, asparagus beetle, aphids and tomato worms | |
| Chives | aphids, Japanese beetles and carrot flies |
Use of animals in pest control
| Use these … | … to control these |
| frogs | pear slug, caterpillars |
| guinea fowl | grasshoppers and insects |
| ducks | snails and some slugs |
| lizards | slugs and caterpillars |
| dragonflies & dragonfly larvae | flies, mosquitoes |
| predatory wasps | smaller insects & egg parasitism of some species |
| bantam chickens | cutworms, slugs |
Permaculture also encourages:
* Sound management and husbandry practised to discourage soil and leaf pests
* Use of plant-derived insect sprays. e.g. pyrethrum, extract from the neem tree (Azadirachta Indica)
* Use plant competition to control land and aquatic weeds
* Release of biological fungus and bacteria to control pest populations, e.g. bacillus thuriensis
* Use of insect traps and behavioural chemicals
* Artificial feeding and attractants to induce predator species to orchard or garden site
* Mechanical management and barriers: hand picking off insects and snails: sticky goo around trunks of fruit saplings to discourage climbing insects: diatomaceous earth around garden beds to discourage slugs / snails
Links:
1. NSW Department of Primary Industries has extensive information on IPM practices in broadacre cropping and in horticulture, including strategies for specific pest species and crops.
2. CSIRO provides information and case studies on its IPM work with industry to facilitate sustainable pest control in agriculture.
3. US EPA’s provides information on IPM strategies, and biopesticide innovations and products.
4. University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources provides IPM guidelines for specific crops and plant species.
5. University of Minnesota’s electronic textbook of Integrated Pest Management, featuring contributed chapters by internationally recognized experts.
Wildlife Management
Encouragement
* Species to encourage: insectivorous birds, ground birds
* Forage: extension of zone 2 hardy forage Systems and pioneer species. especially tagasaste, oaks, pines, locusts (honey and black)
* Provide water with ponds and swales
* Provide shelter: hedgerow. escapement into dams, rockpiles, logs and litter, rough places
* Mowing: strip mowing for stability. mulch seed crop. Permanent unmown strips needed
* Corridor into zone 1
Discouragement
* Trap and cull systems or targeted noxious species
* Increase bias towards chosen species
* Provide no escapement, shelter, food or water
Next – Seeds and Nurseries
Permaculture Design Certificate course index
You’ve caught us moving the Permaculture Design Certificate PDC course into our new website. More stories and content coming in the next week …
18. Waste Water Disposal & Recycling
19. Wildlife Management & Pest Control (YOU ARE HERE)
* Integrated Pest Management
* Herbs and Plants That Repel Insects
* Use of Animals in Pest Control
* Wildlife Management: Encouragement and Discouragement Strategies
20. Seed Saving
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