|Synopsis on Integrated Pest Management in Developing Countries (NRI, 1991, 20 p.)|
31. The point has been made earlier in this report that the practice of IPM puts high demands on the user. The technologies must first be available, accessible and comprehensible; they must then be assembled to meet the particular needs of pest management problems that vary constantly. Although it is possible to identify IPM 'packages' of fairly wide applicability, true IPM more closely resembles a technology basket from which intelligent choices must be made by the farmer.
32. Farmers are the ultimate users of IPM technologies. They need to be able to make reactive decisions in order to respond to and solve a particular problem. Compared with IPM approaches, prescriptive methods of pest control based on pesticides simplify farmers' decision making. IPM demands greater skills of farmers in their being able to select (from a choice of) options which will be appropriate to their farming system at the time the decision has to be taken. It is clear in this context that conventional extension service activities based on prescriptive advice are unlikely to be viable. It is inconceivable that extension workers could advise under all circumstances on appropriate, timely action in the context of the individual's farming system.
33. Farmer education and a sense of their ownership and control over the new IPM technologies are essential for future success. Farmers manage complex cropping systems and experience has shown that they are capable of understanding the principles that must be applied to achieve IPM. The technologies themselves must be presented in a form that enables the farmer to see how they may be fitted into his or her farming system. This is a major challenge for adaptive research and demands a much improved knowledge of the farmers' decision process and the ability to produce technologies to meet the needs of a range of farmer types.
In Malaysia, vegetable farmers benefitted from discussions and demonstration trails on control of Plutella xylostella and are now aware of the usefulness of parasitoids against the moth. Many held back spraying of their cabbage crops until a higher level of P. xylostella is observed resulting in reduced insecticide use.