Introduction
Insect pests and environment Insect Pest problem in crops was there ever
since man started cultivating crops. Insects constitute 75% of living organisms
on earth. Man appeared on the earth only one million years back where at insects
have been surviving here for the past 300 million years. The reasons for their
successful domination on this earth are their body structure, flying ability,
high fecundity, short life cycle etc. But there are several biotic and abiotic
factors operating on them keeping their population under control. These controls
are altered by modern agriculture that fails to understands insects interaction
with nature. Killing insects was the only known technology in modern agriculture
that was promoted indiscriminately. Important outcome of it is the drastic
increase in pest populations. Pesticides that were intended to contain pest
problem aggravated the problem further. Pests have become an unmanageable
problem.
When we study these points in detail:
Many pests that damage our crops complete at least 8 generations in a year.
In 5 years they complete 40 generations. Pests that survived the insecticide
sprays and developed resistance would continue to surve second generation. In
second generation those who escaped and developed resistance, when sprayed over
some survivors produce next generation. The insecticide would not be as
poisonous to the 40th generation, that of first generation. Likewise even though
there is no existing resistance to a particular insecticide, with every spray
insects develop resistance by adapting to selection pressure. After several
generations this ability would be transmitted to ensuing generations. It is
natural, that every organism fights for its survival and perpetuation, as part
and parcel of this process pest obviously develops resistance with this pest
problem would be aggravated. Farmers in our losses with increased number of
sprays and investing on costly insecticides.
Alternatives…….
The best way to control pests is through restoration of natural balance in the
environment. But to restore this environment which is already damage to large
extent, it may take years. Instead of market purchased chemical inputs if
farmers can utilize their traditional knowledge, managerial abilities, physical
labor, take help from natural processes of environment and utilize locally
available resources, would be able to attain sustainability in agriculture. We
call such methods in pest management as Non Pesticidal Management (NPM) methods.
