Pests, Diseases & IPM
📋 What it is
Pests and diseases threaten crops; Integrated Pest Management fights them smartly with the least harm.
🗣️ Coach says
Insects, weeds and diseases can destroy crops. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) is the smart approach: use the least-harmful methods first — helpful predator bugs, crop rotation, resistant varieties — and only careful, targeted pesticides as a last resort. It protects crops AND the environment.
🧠 Memory hook
IPM = fight pests smartly: helpful predators + rotation + resistant crops FIRST, targeted pesticides LAST.
😂 Giggle
I tried to write a report on sustainable farming, but I kept going off on tangents — like a tractor in a field.
😲 Whoa!
Farmers release ladybugs on purpose — a single ladybug can eat thousands of crop-destroying aphids in its life, a natural pest-control that needs no chemicals.
✅ Quick check: What does Integrated Pest Management (IPM) try to do?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Control pests with the least-harmful methods first (predators, rotation, resistant crops), using pesticides only as a targeted last resort.
IPM minimises harm while protecting crops.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Think of ladybugs eating aphids — a natural pest control a farmer might use instead of spraying.