IPM has always involved informed decisions and deliberate choices. Now a recent paper by two U.S. IPM scientists casts a bright light on a second level and, perhaps, even more visionary if complex set of IPM choices.
In their article, “Approaches and Incentives to Implement Integrated Pest Management that Addresses Regional and Environmental Issues,” published in Annual Review of Entomology, M.J. Brewer and P.B. Goodell point to “an incentives dilemma for farmers: selecting IPM activities for individual fields on the basis of market-based economics versus selecting IPM activities best applied regionally that have longer-term benefits, including environmental benefits that accrue to the broader community as well as the farmer.”
Public support combined with private investment can effectively address the incentives dilemma, particularly when IPM approaches are deployed regionally, Drs. Brewer and Goodell assert.
The article should be of interest and relevance individuals and organizations involved with IPM implementation, who are focused on identifying support through collaborating with public agencies, and possibly private sources as well.