Integrated Pest Management

Abstract

Pesticides have been constantly scrutinized since Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in the early 1960’s and the birth of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the early 1970’s. Registrations of many pesticides have been canceled and more will be canceled with the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) in 1996. The diminished availability of pesticides may limit choices to more costly materials. In addition, there is growing concern about groundwater contamination by pesticides and fertilizers, consumer exposure to pesticide residue on food and plant material, pesticide resistance in plant pathogens, insects and weeds, destruction of beneficial organisms, atmospheric contamination by pollutants, and concern for endangered species, all of which combine to make the problem of pest control more serious.