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I hear a lot about integrated pest management (IPM) as a way farmers can cut down on chemical usage. What is IPM and is it used by citrus growers?

April 26, 2017chemical cut farmers hear Integrated IPM Management pest

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I hear a lot about integrated pest management (IPM) as a way farmers can cut down on chemical usage. What is IPM and is it used by citrus growers?

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IPM is a scientific growing process in which all available techniques maybe used to minimize the use of agricultural chemicals, while maximizing the yield and quality of the crop grown. Biological control, or using good bugs to get rid of bad bugs, is a key element of IPM. However agricultural chemicals are used when necessary, in conjunction with biological control, to keep destructive insects under control. Also the special farming techniques that growers use in producing their particular crop are very important. As a matter of fact, the citrus industry was one of the first to use IPM when they brought the Australian ladybug into the U. S. to eat the cottony scale which was covering the citrus trees in the 1880s. Today Sunkist growers are dedicated to the use of IPM.