Frequently Asked Questions - Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations defines Integrated Pest Management as follows:

"Integrated Pest Management (IPM) means the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduce or minimize risks to human health and the environment. IPM emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms".

The FAO promotes IPM as the preferred approach to crop protection, considering it as a "pillar of both sustainable intensification of crop production and pesticide risk reduction".

IPM is a system of farming designed to be sustainable, it involves using a combination of cultural, biological and chemical measures, including plant biotechnology. IPM should provide a cost effective, environmentally sound and socially acceptable method of managing diseases, insects, weeds and other pest in agriculture.

No, IPM is not another name for 'organic'.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations includes the following in its definition of IPM:

"Integrated Pest Management (IPM) means the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques..."

IPM makes use of advanced techniques for pest management including pesticides, such as those used in conventional and organic agriculture.