Physical control: An important tool in pest management programs

Abstract

Various methods of physically controlling arthropod pests are simultaneously both the oldest techniques and a current source of innovation. Unlike pesticides, there is no need for governmental regulation/registration with the concomitant need to spend millions of dollars satisfying environmental and animal toxicology, food safety and efficacy requirements. The focus of this discussion will be on pre-harvest agricultural practices (Table 1) in North America and Europe; there are two recent extensive reviews of pre- and post-harvest physical control methods (Vincent et al. 2008 and Vincent et al. 2009). Physical control methods work well with either pesticide-centered, genetic resistance or biological control-centered integrated management strategies. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.