CULTURAL METHODS OF PEST, PRIMARILY INSECT, CONTROL

Dr. Stuart B. Hill

Macdonald College of McGill University
Ste-Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada H9X 3V9
INTRODUCTION
Cultural controls are the oldest methods that have been used to manage pest
populations. However, with the development of synthetic pesticides these controls
were rapidly abandoned or de-emphasized and research on them was largely
discontinued. Because cultural controls are preventative rather than curative they
are dependent on long-range planning. Also, because they are dependent on
detailed knowledge of the bio-ecology of the crop-pests-natural controlsenvironment relationships, most of which, in the past, were poorly understood, the
results were very variable, and it was often difficult to evaluate their effectiveness.
It is understandable that most farmers were eventually won over to the, at first,
more reliable and less knowledge- and skill- dependent toxic chemical solutions to
pest problems.
Today the situation is very differnt from those early days of pest control. We have a
much better understanding of the bio-ecological relationships within crop systems;
predictive computer models are available for some pests; and the social climate is
demanding reduced dependence on toxic chemicals to solve problems. Such
concerns have developed as a result of numerous pesticide accidents, detection of
residues in recreational environments, drinking water, foods and human tissues, the
increase in the incidence of pesticide-related allergy and petrochemical sensitivity,
the growing interest in the relationships between food quality and human health
(and the associated expanding organic food market), the decreasing effectiveness
of many pesticides as more and more pests become resistant to them, and their
increasing costs.
Pest control scientists have responded to this situation by promoting a philosophy
of pest management and integrated pest control (IPM). At first these approaches,
encouraged by the chemical companies, emphasized the efficient use of pesticides,
claiming that problems associated with these poisons could usually be traced to
their misuse. However, there is ample evidence that problems often arise even
when pesticides are used as recommended. This is not surprising as pesticides are
largely non-selective and are as lethal to the 99.9% of insect species that are
beneficial or neutral with respect to humans, as to the 0.1% that are pests; and most

correctly applied pesticide still misses its target. Because of these and other
problems associated with pesticides it seems reasonable to expect that we will
eventually have to restrict their use to socially important emergencies (for example,
in the future, control of a tobacco pest may not be regarded as a socially important
emergency.)
The next strategy in the development of IPM was to search for more benign
substitutes for pesticides: hormones, sex attractants, traps, biological control
agents, including bio-engineered pathogens, release of sterile males, etc. Such
approaches, although useful as less intrusive curative methods, still avoid
confronting the causes of the problem. They keep the farmer dependent on experts
and suppliers of products, and they perpetuate the image of pests as enemies to be
eliminated.
We are now on the threshold of a third phase in the development of IPM systems
that recognizes pests not as enemies, but as indicators of problems in the design
and management of systems. It is also becoming clear that ecological knowledge
holds most of the keys to appropriate environmental designs and methods of
management capable of keeping pest numbers below unacceptable levels. In this
approach, potential pests are prevented from becoming problems by means of the
integration of a range of cultural and bio-ecological controls. The more familiar
intrusive controls, including certain pesticides, are then reserved for emergencies.
Further advances in this approach are are dependent on identifying and responding
to the barriers to the development and implementation of cultural methods of pest
control (and their integration with other agricultural goals and practices). Foremost
among these are the lack of appropriate research, training, services, equipment, and
crop species and cultivars. In addition to responding to these deficiencies, changes
in human values and attitudes will also be required: a shift in emphasis from
cosmetic to nutritional quality; and from pest elimination to management below
thresholds related to our values.
In their present forms, cultural controls do not offer a panacea for pest prevention
and control. These approaches range from the environmentally supportive,
knowledge- and skill-intensive techniques, such as the optimal design and
management of agroecosystems in time and space (e.g., the design of integrated
polycultures, management of adjacent environments, use of companion crops,
rotations, timing of seeding, harvesting and field operations, etc.), to the more
heavy-handed interventions that can result in soil erosion and environmental
degration (e.g., excessive cultivation, summer fallowing, burning of crop residues,

flooding, destruction of uncultivated areas containing alternative hosts of pests,

etc.). In the following survey I have endeavored to emphasize the former group of
approaches.
Cultural controls employ practices that make the environment less attractive to
pests and less favorable for their survival, dispersal, growth and reproduction, and
that promote the pest's natural controls. The objective is to acheive reduction in
pest numbers, either below economic injury levels, or sufficiently to allow natural
or biological controls to take effect.
STRATEGIES ON WHICH CULTURAL PRACTICES ARE BASED:
i) Make the crop or habitat unacceptable to pests by interfering with their
oviposition preferences, host plant discrimination or location by both adults and
immatures.
ii) Make the crop unavailable to the pest in space and time by utilizing knowledge
of the pest's life history, especially its dispersal and overwintering habits.
iii) Reduce pest survival on the crop by enhancing its natural enemies, or by
altering the crop's susceptibility to the pest.
To design and implement cultural controls, it is necessary to have accurate
knowledge of crop and pest biology, ecology and phenology, and of the weak links
in pest-crop interactions.
ADVANTAGES:
Cultural controls are generally the cheapest of all control measures because they
usually only require modifications to normal production practices. Sometimes they
do not even require extra labour, only careful planning. Often they are the only
control measures that are profitable for high acreage of low value crops.
Cultural controls are dependable, and are usually specific. Of major importance is
the fact that they do not possess some of the detrimental side effects of pesticides,
namely the creation of resistance to pesticides, undesirable residues in food, feed
crops and the environment, and the killing of non-target organisms.
DISADVANTAGES:

Cultural controls require long-term planning for greatest effectiveness and they
need careful timing. They are often based on the substitution of knowledge and
skills for purchased inputs and, as such, are more demanding on the farmer's
competence. They may be effective for one pest but may be ineffective against a
closely related species.
Effectiveness of cultural controls is difficult to assess and they do not always
provide complete economic control of pests.
Some cultural controls have adverse effects on fish and wildlife and may also
cause erosion problems.
CULTURAL CONTROLS INCLUDE:
SELECTION OF SITE:
PLANTING DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT:
- crop isolation
- planting density and spacing
- mixed cropping...inter- and intra- crop diversity
- timing of seeding and planting
- crop rotations
- destruction of volunteer plants
- replacement of alternate hosts
- management of trap crops
- management of nursery crops
- management of surrounding environments
MAINTENANCE OF SITE:

 - cultivation, tillage
- fertilization, liming and manuring
- pruning, defoliation, thinning and topping
- irrigation, drainage
- sanitation......crop residue destruction
clean field borders
weed control
- mulches
HARVESTING PROCEDURES:
- timing of harvesting
- strip harvesting
DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODS
SELECTION OF SITE:
-Sometimes a pest can be avoided by selecting a planting site that is ideal for the
crop and the natural enemies of the pest, but unfavorable for the pest itself. Factors
to consider include the history of the site (e.g., whether the pest has occured in this
location in the past), its proximity to potential overwintering sites (woodlots,
hedges, field borders, etc.) or sites with abundant natural controls (hedges, field
borders and bodies of water), climate, microclimate, topography, elevation, slope,
aspect, soil conditions, weed species, etc. One key is to avoid stressing the crop.
When plants are grown in stressed conditions, they tend to emit signals that attract
certain pests.
PLANTING DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT:
- crop isolation: the location of crops with respect to one another and their degree
of isolation can affect their likelihood of being invaded by pests. Isolation from old
crops of the same type, and from closely related indigenous host-plants that act as

sources of pests, is one way of reducing the probability of attack. The chance of
invasion occurring will, however, increase with time. Hence, this practice is most
appropriate for annual crops, especially when climatic conditions are not ideal.
Separation of sequentially planted crops in time to disrupt host-plant continuity and
prevent easy pest dispersal may be useful, e.g., for carrot fly control.
Note: crop isolation can be made more difficult by the proximity, in the
surrounding fields or in nearby uncultivated areas, of wild plants that act as
reservoirs both for pests and for pathogens transmitted by them. This method of
cultural control requires cooperation of from neighboring producers.
- planting density and spacing: the primary objective of this cultural method is to
maximize yield per unit area without reducing crop quality, so that yield
advantages overide pest incidence reduction. It can also be used to reduce pest
numbers and damage. Spacing may affect the relative rate of growth of the plant
and its pest population per unit of time, and the behavior of the insect pest in
searching for food or for an oviposition site. It is based on the following
observations:
i) close spacing may add to the effectiveness of natural enemies and result in
greater control of a pest population;
ii) some insect pests are attracted by low density planting because they are
silhouetted against bare ground, e.g., at low density brassicas attract more aphids;
iii) some populations of pests can increase on high density crops. Because of the
variety of existing responses to crop spacing, a detailed knowledge of the pest's
biology is of extreme importance.
Plant spacing is also used to promote vigorous and strong plants, which in itself
can be a good cultural control measure, e.g., a good protection for corn against
corn stalkborer.
Plant spacing that encourages rapid crop maturation could also provide a means of
encouraging early fruiting and harvesting of crops of indeterminate flowering
plants. This has been used in the south against bollweevils and pink bollworms.
- mixed cropping: in this approach, more than one crop is grown on the same piece
of land. This reduces phytophagous insect pests by encouraging increases in
natural enemies due to:

i) greater temporal and spatial distribution of nectar and pollen sources;

ii) increased ground cover, particularly important for diurnal enemies;
iii) increased prey, offering alternative food sources when the pest species are
scarce or at an appropriate time in the predator's life cycle. It also affects the pest's
ability to find host plants by conferring associational resistance, by the non-host
plant masking the odors of the host plant.
- timing of seeding and planting: this is used largely to:
i) avoid invasion by migrants, or the oviposition period of particular pests, and the
introduction of disease in the crop by insect vectors;
ii) to synchronize the pest attack with its natural enemies, with weather conditions
that are adverse for the pest or with the abundance of an alternative host;
iii) to make it possible to destroy the crop before the pest enters diapause.
Timing can be used to allow young plants to establish to a tolerant stage before
attack occurs, to reduce the susceptible period of attack, to mature the crop before
a pest becomes abundant, to allow it to compensate for damage and to fill gaps
where plants have been damaged or killed, and to avoid the egg-laying period of a
particular pest.
- crop rotation: an effective rotation is one in which a crop of one plant family is
followed by one from a different family that is not a host crop of the pest to be
controlled. Most common rotations include grasses, legumes and root crops.
Rotations are effective against pests that have a limited host-plant range and
dispersiveness and/or that cannot survive for more than one or two seasons without
suitable host crops. Pests most subject to this type of control are poorly mobile,
soil-inhabiting species with a restricted host range and a life cycle of 1 year or
longer.
- destruction of volunteer plants: such plants are very attractive to many insects and
serve as the focal point for future infestations. Unless they are destroyed they can
help perpetuate a pest problem by furnishing a food source to long life-cycled pests
of preceeding crops.
- management of alternate hosts: many insects reproduce on weeds or other
alternate hosts and then attack the main crops. It is therefore usually desirable to

destroy brambles or other weeds on uncultivated land to assist in the control of

insects such as aphids, beet leafhopper and raspberry caneborer. Care must be
taken, however, not to destroy nursery sites for the pest's natural enemies.
- management of trap crops: trap crops (often small plantings, often made earlier
than the main plantings) are used to divert insect attack away from the crop at risk
by using more attractive food sources. The trap crop must usually be destroyed
before the insects reproduce.
This method involves the planting of a crop upon infested land so that the pest is
stimulated to attack, but the crop is either removed before the pest can complete its
life cycle or it will not provide all the requirements necessary for the completion of
the pest's life cycle. Alternatively the trap crop may be preferentially attacked in
the presence of the crop one needs to protect.
Note: the pest must have a narrow host range and the trap crop species selected
need not be different from the main crop.
- management of nursery crops: like trap crops, these are plants that are more
attractive to the pest than the commercial crop, but in this case the aim is to
provide a site where both pests and their natural controls can build up, the latter
dispersing to the crop and providing effective control.
- management of surrounding environments (field borders, hedges, adjacent
woodlots and bodies of water): these habitats can be designed and managed to
provide ideal conditions for the natural enemies of pests. Often this involves
providing suitable flowering plants for predators and parasites of pests and making
such sites unsuitable for overwintering pests, e.g., coniferous litter around an
orchard makes the woodlot unattractive to overwintering plum curculio, thereby
forcing them to overwinter in the orchard where they suffer higher mortality than
in a suitable woodlot.
MAINTENANCE OF SITE:
- cultivation, tillage: this approach can help in the control of soil inhabiting forms
of field crop pests by:
i) bringing larvae and pupae onto the soil surface, thereby exposing them to
desiccation and predation, freezing and thawing;
ii) damaging the pest in its soil inhabiting phase, e.g., wireworms;

iii) destroying crop residues, which might harbour pests that could invade new
crops;
iv) burying residues so deep that emergence from eggs or pupae is made
impossible.
Note: minimum tillage and direct drilling may, depending on habitat conditions,
increase or decrease pest presence, so knowledge of the bioecology of the
particular pests that are present is essential.
- fertilization, liming and manuring:
i) plant nutrition can influence the feeding, longevity and fecundity of
phytophagous pests; the common fertilizer elements (nitrogen, phosphorous and
potassium) can have direct and indirect effects on pest supression. In general,
nitrogen in high concentrations has the reputation of increasing pest incidence,
particularly of sucking pests such as mites and aphids. On the other hand,
phosphorous and potassium additions are known to reduce the incidence of certain
pests, e.g., in low phosphorous soils wireworm populations often tend to increase;
ii) fertilization promotes rapid growth and shortens the susceptible stages. It gives
better tolerance to, and opportunity to compensate for, pest damage. Trace mineral
and plant hormones sprays (e.g., from seaweed extracts) have been found to reduce
damage by certain pests, particularly sucking pests such as some aphids and mites.
- timing of tillage and fertilization operations: this may affect pests favorably or
unfavorably. Efforts should be made to avoid damage and stress to plants, and also
overfertilization, thereby avoiding making the crop particularly attractive and
susceptible to pests.
- pruning, defoliation and topping: during the dormant phase, removal and
destruction of dead, diseased, or infested wood can greatly reduce overwintering
stages of pest populations and thus their spread the next year, e.g., mite eggs,
aphids, scale and fire blight infested terminals. In apples and other fruit trees,
pruning water sprouts, sucker growth or foliage that is prefered by aphids, helps
control these pests. Pruning that is excessive, (e.g., in relation to fertilization
practices), can increase the population of certain pests such as mites, aphids, and
leafhoppers.
- irrigation, drainage: moisture is an important limiting factor that affects the
survival of some pests. Where sufficient water is available, flooding is sometimes

used for insect and nematode control, e.g., flooding of infested soils in the
northwestern part of the United States has been used to eliminate certain species of
wireworm within three days. Certain other wireworm species are unable to
withstand desiccation. Where these wireworms occur, drying out the soil is an
effective control measure.
- sanitation and crop residue destruction: this method is used to reduce pest
infestation through the removal of breeding and hibernating sites. Sanitation has
broad applicability; to be most effective, it requires knowledge of the habits of the
pest species and careful timing. It involves:
i) eradication of harmful weed hosts or alternate hosts;
ii) timely destruction of crop residues;
iii) cleaning of field borders of alternate hosts, and removal of scrub or shelter in
which pests might hide; e.g., in orchards, destruction of cull or dropped fruits and
pupation sites for codling moth, apple maggot , and plum curculio may be achieved
by means of livestock, and suction or cultivation equipment.
Note: if total crop residue destruction is required, problems with wind erosion,
water runoff and soil moisture loss can occur.
- mulches: natural or synthetic soil coverings may encourage or discourage pests.
Plastic mulches may exclude soil pests, and organic mulches may permit their
control by providing a suitable habitat for their natural enemies. Crop residue
mulches around fruit trees can help control a number of pests of fruit, but the trees
will need extra protection from mice, which also tend to become more abundant.
HARVESTING PROCEDURES:
-timing of harvesting: early harvesting can be used to disrupt survival of the pest in
its habitat. Also, clipping or early harvesting can be helpful in destroying immature
insects that are in the foliage.
- strip harvesting: in this system, crops are harvested in alternate strips, so that two
different aged growths occur simultaniously in a field. When one series of strips is
cut, the alternate strips are about half grown and the field becomes a rather stable
environment. This is used in alfalfa, where Lygus bugs are a problem. They move
into the younger hay strips as the older ones are harvested, instead of flying to
other crops as they do if the entire field is cut at one time. Since natural enemies of

the Lygus bug also move from strip to strip, there is no increase in
the Lyguspopulation. When the Lygus adults move into the uncut strip, they
deposit eggs in the half-grown hay, but, since the hay is cut in about 15 days, many
of the eggs and newly hatched nymphs are removed or destroyed at harvest.
IMPLEMENTATION OF CULTURAL CONTROLS
For the above cultural controls to achieve their potential, the following initiatives
will need to be taken.
1. Policy
Governments will need to establish a clear food and agriculture policy that
recognizes that the primary function of the food system is to nourish all members
of the population in a sustainable way, and without infringing on the earth's
capacity to meet the other basic needs of present and future generations. Such a
policy would necessarily have to identify appropriate strategies for the
management of agriculture pests. As a first step towards this, a committee could be
established (with representation from the appropriate departments, together with
representation from the appropriate private and public sectors) to draw up such a
policy for public discussion and subsequent implementation.
2. Legislation
Legislation should be established to permit the appropriate government
departments to, if necessary, develop regulations that would require farmers to
cooperate in the application of certain cultural control programs, e.g., collection
and destruction of June drop and fallen apples in orchards; destruction of certain
types of prunings and crop residues, synchronized planting and seeding of certain
crops; destruction of alternative hosts of certain pests, etc. Such regulations already
exist in several European countries and in Australia.
Legislation is also needed to ensure that users of Class 1 and 2 pesticides have not
only achieved competence in the "safe" use of pesticides, but are also competent in
the use of safe alternatives, including the relevant cultural controls.
Governments should also evaluate how their curent programs, policies and
regulations encourage farmers to use pesticides, e.g., programs that inadvertently
encourage the use of pesticides to meet top grading standards based on cosmetic
appearance.

3. Research
Governments must designate appropriate amounts of money to support the
establishment of research related to sustainable systems of food production,
including the use of cultural methods of pest control.
A list of priorities should be established, with emphasis on long-term participatory
(on-farm), multidisciplinary team research. With the trend to fund research through
matching grants with industry, it is imperative that areas such as cultural controls,
which tend to be based on processes rather than products and therefore of little
interest to most industries, be designated as priority areas for support by
government.
To stimulate interest in this area among researchers, governments should provide
funds to hold conferences on cultural and other alternative methods of pest control
and to invite keynote speakers from around the world.
Research in this area should be done both in-house and through the awarding of
grants to researchers in universities, the private sector, and also to farm
organizations and innovative farmers.
There is already a feeling in many government circles that funds for pesticide
research, especially testing and evaluation, should be phased out in favor of
research into alternative control strategies; and that monies for pesticide research
be provided by the pesticide industry.
4. Services
At the present time a widely reported complaint by farmers wishing to avoid the
use of pesticides is that most extension agents or agronomes are unable to help
them solve their pest problems. To correct this situation short courses should be
provided for these agents to enable them to become familiar with alternative
strategies, including cultural methods, for controlling pests. Supports should also
be provided to individuals seeking to establish themselves as companies selling
services and supplies relating to safe alternative controls, including cultural
controls.
5. Training and Education
The success of most of the above recommendations are dependent on widespread
access to comprehensive educational programs covering the design and use of

cultural controls. Options include support for a university "chair" in this area, for
the establishment of courses in cultural controls, and for the preparation of
appropriate teaching materials and demonstration plots.
6. Public Education
Although public awareness is shifting, much work still needs to be done to help the
public to realize that most insects are beneficial and that cosmetic quality of food is
not a reliable indicator of nutritional quality. A greater appreciation of the essential
role of the farmer in society is called for, and an expanded responsibility for
considering our actions in relation to the needs of future generations. A creative
and intensive public education campaign should be mounted to get these messages
across.
CONCLUSIONS
In this brief summary, cultural methods of pest controls have been described under
the headings of selection of site, planting design and management, maintenance of
site, and harvesting procedures. Implementation of these controls are discussed in
relation to policy, legislation, research, services, training and education, and public
education.
Copyright 1989 Ecological Agriculture Projects