New pest management frontiers: Linking plant medicine to traditional knowledge

Abstract

An exciting new plant protection degree, the Doctor of Plant Medicine, has been born in the United States. This infant degree is modeled after the current conventional medicine model promoted by the American Medical Association. Recently, conventional physicians have begun to recognize some value in other medical models. So, we suggest that in the early years of its development, the "parents" of this newborn degree explore the value that traditional herbal medicine (THM) models may have for the growth and enrichment of this degree. THM models are frequently couched in mystery, nonscientific terms, and unfamiliar concepts. Nevertheless, THM has much in common with pest management practices rooted in the tenets of agroecology, sustainable agriculture, and evolutionary biology. This forum article attempts to distill those practices and concepts into useable terms that will stimulate further creative thought and discussion not only by the parents of the new plant medicine degree, but all entomologists involved in issues of plant protection.