UMass Extension Integrated Pest Management

IPM by Commodity

What is IPM?

IPM is an acronym for Integrated Pest Management, a philosophy and approach for managing pests, which incorporates biological, chemical and cultural control strategies. The vast majority of the applied research for IPM has been carried out since the early 1970's at land-grant colleges in the US, and their counterparts throughout the world.

It is generally accepted that IPM is a systems approach to pest management, based on accurate pest identification and monitoring, use of economic and/or aesthetic thresholds, and use of all suitable control measures (including chemical, cultural, and biological controls).  This is accomplished in an ecologically compatible manner, maintaining pest population levels below those causing economically significant injury. If no effective non-pesticide control measures are available, a key IPM tenet is that selected pesticides should result in the lowest possible risk to health or the environment.

Learn more about the UMass Extension IPM Program

UMass IPM Projects: