IP(F)M
Integrated Pest (& Fertility) Management : What it Means
There is widespread acceptance in conventional Best Practice Farming of "Integrated Pest Management" (IPM) as crucial to the success of intensive irrigated crop management to achieve significant improvements in farming systems. However many have failed to recognise and focus on the importance of nutrition in the pest management process.
By integrating "Fertility" into the IPM concept, Advantage Ag is encouraging a significant shift in understanding of how enhancing fertility can result in decreased chemical usage, increased fertiliser efficiency, further decreases in insecticide and fungicide use, increased water efficiency and improved soil structure. In addition, this allows better fuel efficiency for tillage processes.
The presence of sucking insects is not only due to an abscence of high value (proprietary) chemicals. Sucking insects such as thrips and aphids are present due to being attracted to excesses of nitrates (nitrates/amines) relative to plant sugars. Many of the current cropping systems are driven by high soluble nitrogen inputs.
Plant sugars are a reflection of balanced nutrition with ample phosphates available to the plant to achieve optimum yield with a high mineral density.
A fully functioning soil humus and biological cycle will then provide the plant nitrogen in a controlled manner to match its demand.
How do you define your Best Management Practice?