Integrated Pest Management as a Sustainable Strategy for Reducing Chemical Dependency and Enhancing Productivity in Modern

Abstract

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an important alternative to conventional agriculture relying on chemical inputs and is applicable to many aspects of the ecosystems, economy, and productivity, but there is not enough quantification when considering the overall effectiveness. The experimental study was conducted in 20 agricultural research farms in various agroecological zones with Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 320 replicated experimental plots over 2 consecutive cropping seasons. Biological control agents, crop rotation, resistant varieties, pheromone traps, mechanical weed control, cultural practices, botanical pesticides, selective chemicals, and an IPM package were evaluated as strategies. Pest monitoring was done weekly, crop growth parameters and economic parameters were measured, and statistical analyses were done by ANOVA, multiple linear regression, and principal component analysis. Our results show that overall implementation of IPM resulted in a 46.8% reduction in chemical pesticide used, a 35.2% reduction in pest infestation, and a 24.7% increase in beneficial insects. The yield under conventional management was 19.8% higher, and the net economic return was 21.5% higher. Biological control efficiency (β = 0.47, p < 0.001) and pest monitoring frequency (β = 0.40, p < 0.001) were the most important factors for pest suppression, and the model accounted for 75.6% of the variance. Three components were also found by PCA that explained 82.9% of total variance: biological pest control, crop productivity, and economic returns. This work brings a novelty in the quantification of the multiple benefits that IPM offers, combining pest suppression, environmental sustainability, and economic viability. The findings are evident that IPM is an effective method that can reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture and ensure agricultural productivity and a healthy environment in modern agriculture.