(Sustainability in Plant and Crop Protection (15)) 1st ed. 2020 Edition
by Juan F. Barrera (Author)
About 15 years ago, we asked
ourselves why the methods developed by the research institutions for the
management of pests were almost not used by small landholder farmers.
It seemed obvious to us that conventional pest control –called
“Integrated Pest Management”– was based on a reductionist approach. In
reviewing the literature on the subject, we found that our concern was
not new or unique. The agreement of some authors with our ideas
reinforced our efforts to find a holistic approach to pest management.
We took two central ideas to develop the holistic approach: First, pest
management actions must put the farmer at the center of the system.
Second, pest management must consider not only both pests but the other
important components of the system in question. This approach based on
the farmers and the systems in which they are immersed, is called
“Holistic Pest Management” or HPM. In this book, I present the
philosophy and practice of HPM, a new paradigm of pest management.
