Integrated Pest Management At Home

Everybody knows that pests pose serious problems to humans, crops, and animals. For this reason, we do our best to look for safe and effective methods for pest control. One of the best strategies created by experts is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This is an ecosystem-based approach that minimizes the risk of pest management in urban, agricultural, wildland, and natural areas. 

Integrated pest management is a combination of techniques for biological control, habitat manipulation, and modification of pest activity. Pesticides are recommended only when human monitoring indicates the need to exterminate the target organism immediately. Using IPM as a strategy for pest control includes some of the pest control materials meticulously and applying it in a manner that minimizes its risks to human health. 

What Is a Pest?

Not all insects are pests. An insect is considered a pest only when it causes damage or interferes with desirable plants in fields, orchards, landscapes, homes, and other structures.  An insect is a pest only if it poses a danger to human and animal health. Some pests such as the rodent can cause Salmonellosis, Amoebiasis, and rat-bite fever. The mosquito, on the other hand, transmits dengue fever, zika virus, and Malaria.

Pests come in many forms. It could be the form of a plant such as weeds, it could also be a vertebrate such as a bird, rodent, or other mammal. Lastly, pests can also come in the form of invertebrates such as ticks, fleas, mites, and snails. 

How Does Integrated Pest Management Work?

The focus of integrated pest management is the long-term prevention of pests and their damage to the ecosystem. Using the effective methods of IPM, you can take safe methods to keep pests away from your house, garden, farm, or lawn. Integrated pest management is an upgraded form of traditional pest management. IPM means a person will look at several environmental factors that affect pests and its ability to survive. With this information, people can create conditions that are unfavorable and unattractive to pests.

Using integrated pest management, monitoring, and correct pest identification are necessary to help people decide whether management or extermination is needed. Pest monitoring includes checking the field, landscape, forest, or building. Identification means to accurately define which pests are present, the severity of the infestation, and the damage they have caused. Correct identification of pests is the key to knowing whether a pest has the potential to cause problems. It also determines the best management strategy for prevention and extermination. 

Benefits of Integrated Pest Management

1. IPM helps promote healthy plants. 
2. It helps maintain sound structures 
3. Reduces environmental risk associated with pest management. 
4. Prevents air and water contamination. 
5. Protects non-target species such as pets and plants.
6. IPM helps reduce the need for pesticides and insecticides. 
7. Reduces the issue of pesticide residue. 
8. It helps eliminate the re-entry of pests. 
9. Decreases people's exposure to harmful chemicals from pesticides. 
10. Raises concern and awareness to the public about pest and pesticide-related practices. 

For Agricultural Producers:

1. Maintains the cost-effectiveness of pest management and control. 
2. Aids in the avoidance of future pest management crisis. 
3. Reduction of economic risk by promoting low-cost methods of pest control.
4. Reduction of health risk of workers. 

For the Environment:

1. IPM helps in the protection of at-risk ecosystems from harmful fumes and residues.  
2. It promotes sustainable bio-based pest management alternatives. 

For Pest Management Professionals & Organizations:

1. Augmentation of research and development efforts to develop low-risk pest control management techniques. 
2. It helps promote innovation of innovative practices that improve pest control effectiveness. 
3. Increases the demand for new, innovative, and marketable products for pest control.  

Approaches Of Integrated Pest Management

1. Biological Control - It pays off to learn fundamental information about pests. The biological control of integrated pest management includes the use of natural enemies such as predators, parasites, pathogens, and competitors. For example, if your problem at home involves mice and rats, get a cat to catch them or ward them off. 
2. Cultural Control - This involves the practices that reduce pest establishment, reproduction, and survival. For example, farmers can change their irrigation practices since too much water can increase root disease and weeds. 
3. Mechanical & Physical Controls - This is the method of killing pests directly, blocking pests out, or making the environment unsuitable for pest establishment. Traps are examples of mechanical control. Physical controls include the use of mulches for weed management. It also involves using barriers and sealants to keep pests away. 
4. Chemical Control - Most pesticides have very poor aim. They blast everything in their path, including ecosystem-friendly organisms and plants. The aphids and whiteflies will die but so does the ladybugs that feed on them and control their population. 

For this reason, the use of chemicals must be upgraded for safety and efficiency. Using IPM, pesticides are used only when needed. The chemicals and treatments are selected carefully to minimize their possible harm to people, non-target organisms, plants, and other components of the environment. 

Components of IPM

1. Identification of pests. Do background research on the pests that pose a nuisance. This helps you determine their strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and activities. It is essential to learn the pest's life cycle so you can choose the optimum solution for maximum pest control. 
2. Monitoring and assessing the population of pests and their potential damage. 
3. Pest Prevention
4. Using biological, cultural, physical, mechanical, and chemical management tools. 
5. After the necessary IPM actions, assess the effect of pest management. 

Integrated Pest Management For Homes

1. Seal the possible entryways of pests - Schedule a regular check-up of the entire perimeter of your house. Look for any ridges, holes, crevices, and broken shingles. Seal these immediately and make sure that pests cannot remove or destroy the lids. If you cannot do it alone, call for a local carpenter for a more effective outcome. Depending on the holes and crevices, the service could last half a day. 
2. Clean as you co - The most common way to prevent pests from entering your home is to clean as you go. Especially after eating, make sure that you clean every stain and crumbs from your dining area. Wash the dishes properly and remove any dirt from the drain. Furthermore, do not forget to wipe the stove, the table, and the compartments. Secure the lids of soy bottles, ketchup bottles, and many more. 
3. Avoid cluttering of objects - Clutters provide an all-access hiding spot for pests. To prevent any pest establishment, it is recommended to keep your things organized. Fix your things after every activity and never leave your belongings cluttered on the floor, couch, bed, or table. 
4. Keep humidity low - Pests are relatively attracted to moisture. To make your home unfavorable to pests, it is important to keep the humidity low. 
5. Vacuum regularly - Regular vacuuming helps in removing crumbs from carpets, rubs, and crevices on floors. It also helps reduce the population of ticks, cockroaches, fleas, and other pests. 
6. Check any items coming into your home - Some pests such as ticks, bed bugs, and fleas latch on to grocery bags, second-hand appliances, and luggage to get into houses. Before you enter your home, make sure to check your bags for any sign of pests. 
7. Check your clothes & shoes - Pests can also latch onto our garments. As much as possible, remove your shoes and change your clothes before lounging on the bed or the couch. You never know if there are bed bugs latched onto your clothes. Before you know it, you will be facing a full-blown pest infestation without proper prevention. 
8. Use a dryer for clothing & bedding - High heat is effective in killing eggs, larvae, and bugs. It pays off to invest in a dryer, especially in woody areas. It helps prevent pests from establishing their habitats on your clothing compartment and bedding. 
9. Do laundry more often - Moths and cockroaches are attracted to sweat and stains on clothes. To help prevent infestation, it helps to wash your clothes at least 2 to 3 times a week. It helps control the population of harmful moths inside your house. 

Call for Professional Help

If you are facing a pest infestation, call for a professional pest control company in Mooresville that supports Integrated Pest Management. Lake Norman Home Services uses human-friendly and botanical-friendly means of extermination. The experts pride themselves in carefully concocting pesticides to fully exterminate pests without damaging non-target organisms, human beings, and plants.

For over 50 years, Lake Norman Home Services has proven its ability in the field of pest management. Innovation is extremely vital to this company. Using updated data about pests and pest management, the experts promote an unending search and discovery for the ultimate environment and human protection against pests. With the help of their highly-trained exterminators, you no longer have to worry about pests inside and outside your house. For effective pest management methods, contact Lake Norman Home Services today.