This study­aimed to explain thebehavior and attitudes of farmersin the adoption ofIntegrated Pest­­­Management (IPM) technologiesinrice fields. The main instrument ofresearch was a questionnaire whose validitywas confirmed bya panel of professorsandexecutive experts, and its reliabilitywas confirmed by apreliminarytest.The sample employed inthe research study comprisedfarmers who were participa...

An Integrated Pest Management is formulated as a threshold policy. It is shown that when this strategy is applied to a food web consisting of generalist, specialist predators and endemic and pest prey, the dynamics can be stable and useful from the pest control point of view, despite the dynamical complexities inherent to the application of biocontrol only. In addition, pesticide toxicity depen...

A broader, more comprehensive concept of forest pest management is needed to make it a really integral part of forest resource management. A generalized model structure of a forest pest management system is presented, and the major components are discussed briefly. Predictive models are the primary mechanism of information flow to decision and action in the system. General considerations affect...

This paper describes the architecture of the Integrated Pest Management Expert System (IPMES) project that is being developed by the University of Otago and HortResearch. The project develops and applies new learning techniques to building intelligent systems. The overall intention of this project is to develop an adaptive decision support system for pest management based on information integra...

Stored product insects cause millions of dollars per year in losses in stored wheat. Traditionally, storedproduct pest management has relied on chemicals to control insects. In some cases, pest management has been improved by applying chemicals only when needed. An increasing effort is being made to reduce or eliminate pesticide residues in the food supply. This trend has increased since the in...

Introduction Resistance is a natural phenomenon, a result of evolution and adaptation to environment. When a pest population is exposed to a pest management tool, whether chemical, biological, or cultural, the individuals in that population that are genetically predisposed to overcome the management tool are more likely to survive and pass their genes on to the next generation. Over multiple ge...

The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella Linnaeus, is a ubiquitous pest of the honeybee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, and Apis cerana Fabricius. The greater wax moth larvae burrow into the edge of unsealed cells with pollen, bee brood, and honey through to the midrib of honeybee comb. Burrowing larvae leave behind masses of webs which causes galleriasis and later absconding of colonies. The damage...

Farmers and private consultants execute a vast, decentralized data collection effort with each cropping cycle, as they gather pest density data to make real-time pest management decisions. Here we present a proof of concept for an ecoinformatics approach to pest management research, which attempts to harness these data to answer questions about pest-crop interactions. The impact of herbivory by...

Native to North America, the blueberry maggot fly, Rhagoletis mendax Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), has historically been considered one of the most important insect pests of commercially grown highbush and lowbush blueberries in many parts of the northeastern and north central United States and Canada. Larval infestation results in unmarketable berries owing to a zero-tolerance policy enforced...

Worldwide, the theory and practice of agricultural extension system have been dominated for almost half a century by Rogers' "diffusion of innovation theory". In particular, the success of integrated pest management (IPM) extension programs depends on the effectiveness of IPM information diffusion from trained farmers to other farmers, an important assumption which underpins funding from develo...