Page 41 - SCERT Kerala State Syllabus 8th Standard Basic Science Textbooks English Medium Part 1_Neat

Read the science excerpt given below.
Modern technology Pests and their natural enemies
and pests
Have you ever thought of the tremendous increase of
With the large scale production certain pests? The main reason for this is the fall in the
of chemical fertilizers research
in other areas of pest control number of organisms that prey on them. Predators,
has not been encouraged parasites and pathogens of pests can be called natural
adequately. Although it is enemies of pests. The service of these organisms may
proved that pests can be be effectively utilized in agriculture.
controlled by using ultrasonic
sound waves, such technolo gies
are not accessible to farmers.
Another possibility of controlling
the multiplication of pests is
destroying the reproductive
capacity of male pests using
radiations.
Devices like pheromone trap
are becoming more widespread.
The method employed here is Integrated Pest Management-IPM
to attract and destroy insects
using artificial substances The basic principle of Integrated Pest Management is
that have a chemical nature not the destruction of pests totally. Instead it tries to
similar to that of pheromone prevent the multiplication of pests and to limit their
emitted by insects. Its demerit
is that it is easily evaporated number without loss of crop.
by heat and wind and This ecofriendly method ensures pest control without
dissolved by water. However, disturbing the environment. This is done by reducing
now, with the help of modern
technology, it is possible to the use of chemical pesticides and encouraging the
develop artificial pheromone application of biopesticides, natural enemies of pests,
traps which are not exposed to mechanical pest control etc.
any chemical and physical
change.
Measures of pest control that do not cause any harm to the
environment are desirable. Let us list the advantages of
Integrated Pest Management.

See ‘Keedaniyanthranamargangal’.
in School Resources in IT @
School, Edubuntu.

The high investment required for agriculture makes it
uneconomic. The high cost of seeds, fertilizers and
pesticides, makes the farmer a debtor.

40 Basic Science VIII