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QPlant protectionWhat is integrated pest management and how can I reduce pesticides?
Expert answer
In short: Prevention, monitoring, biological and mechanical measures — and chemicals only when really needed.
| Level | Measure | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prevention | Agronomic practices | Crop rotation, resistant varieties, healthy seed, optimal sowing date, balanced fertilisation |
| 2. Observation | Monitoring | Weekly field walks, pheromone and sticky traps, weather-based disease forecasts |
| 3. Biological control | Natural enemies | Ladybirds, lacewings, microbial agents (Trichoderma, Bacillus), flowering strips along field edges |
| 4. Mechanical / physical | Direct measures | Harrowing, weeding, clearing crop residues |
| 5. Chemical | Only when the ET is reached | Targeted treatment, selective products, rotating active substances |
Good practice 4 ("Agromate", Yambol) shows that moving from calendar-based spraying to treatments based on weather station data cuts pesticide use by up to 30%.
How to reduce spraying without risking the harvest:
- Strengthen the foundation. Six low-cost measures cover most wheat diseases and pests: resistant varieties; destroying volunteers and grass weeds after harvest; crop rotation; balanced fertilisation; optimal sowing date and seeding rate; incorporating residues.
- Break the "green bridge". Volunteers and grass weeds after harvest carry diseases and pests from the old crop to the new one — destroying them is the cheapest protection.
- Do not overdo nitrogen. Excess nitrogen makes plants more susceptible to powdery mildew and rusts, while phosphorus and potassium increase resistance.
- Spray by risk, not by calendar. A weather station and a disease forecasting model show when the risk is real.
- Reduce step by step. Start with one field, compare yield and costs with the others, and expand once you see results.
Material: Brochure 2 "Sustainable management of diseases and pests"; Brochure 1, section 6.