Beyond IPM

About fifteen years ago, the author and his colleagues began to ask why the pest management methods developed by research institutions were hardly used by small landholder farmers. They concluded that conventional pest control, known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), rests on a reductionist approach. A review of the literature showed that their concern was neither new nor unique, and the agreement of some other authors encouraged them to look for a holistic alternative.

Their approach rests on two central ideas. First, pest management actions should put the farmer at the center of the system. Second, pest management has to take into account not only the pests but also the other important components of the system in question.

This approach, built around farmers and the systems they live and work within, is called Holistic Pest Management, or HPM. In this book, Juan F. Barrera presents the philosophy and practice of HPM as a new paradigm for managing pests.