Cultural Approaches

Abstract

Cultural approaches have to be followed in order to get good crops and also for effective pest management. Adoption of these methods is the first and foremost step in organic farming for pest control. Commonly used cultural operations can be very effectively utilized to manage many crop pests. Many of these methods are general in nature and some are very specific for a particular pest. They generally target the weak points in the biology of pests and are also the cheapest among all control methods. Crop rotation (which is an important cultural approach) needs to be practiced invariably with legumes (like cowpea) and green manure crops (dhaincha, Sesbania aculeata, or sun hemp, Crotalaria juncea). Crop rotation improves soil health and reduces soil-borne disease pathogens and plant nematodes. Application of organic amendments to the soil also has to be done to get proper growth of plants and to enhance beneficial biological processes in the soil. Cultural approaches help in the sustainability of crop production as well as crop protection.