Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Integrated Pest Management is a widely accepted approach to pest management that results in effective suppression or elimination of a pest problem while minimizing human, health and environmental hazards. IPM is a pest management strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of a pest problem through a combination of techniques such as monitoring for pest presence and establishing treatment threshold levels, using non-chemical practices to make the habitat less conducive to pest development, improving sanitation and employing mechanical and physical controls. Pesticides are used only after careful monitoring has indicated that they are necessary. IPM involves the selection of pesticides that pose the least hazard and are effective in a manner that minimizes risks to people, property and the environment.