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For decades now, pest management have been a critical concern for many people. Since the advent of agriculture centuries ago, pests have proven to be a hard nut to crack. The inability of pesticides to weed them off has resulted in the evolution of different methods of pest control. Which have proven to be worthwhile in their own way. However, the major ones are chemical, natural, and biological methods.
Chemical Methods
This mode of pest extermination invokes the use of pesticides. However, each type of pest requires a specific type of pesticide. The major types of pesticides that are put into use in today’s world include:
Fungicides
Fungicides are organic compounds that aid in the destruction of fungal infections. This is attributed to their biocide properties. Fungi have over time and again subjected farmers to excruciating losses in crop production by lowering yields and quality of crops. Sulfur is the major ingredient in Fungicides.
Insecticides
Insecticides are essential in the extermination of insects at any level. Spanning from eggs, larvae, ovicides, and larvicides. Farmer’s preference for insecticides as a pest control method is primarily based on its affordability. However, they are a threat to human health life, and there are clarion calls for the abandonment of its use.
Nematicide
Nematicide has proven its worth and might in the eradication of nematodes that infect plants. It is majorly used on potatoes as the nematodes thrive in soil.
Rodenticides
Rodents such as mice and rats have over the years made farmers spend sleepless nights. Due to their destructive nature when they find a way into granaries. Rodenticides have, however, stepped into place to mitigate these effects by exterminating the rodents. Check our best rat killers and our mice traps reviews.
Natural Methods
Controlling household insects is much easier when working on small insects such as ants, cockroaches, and fleas. The defense line is first drawn through the removal of attractants. As we mentioned earlier, insects such as ants have sensory organs that enable them to detect food materials hundreds of meters away. Check our ant killer reviews and our roach killer reviews.
For this reason, we recommend that you ensure the kitchen is free of leftovers and food spills. By doing this, you keep them at bay since they will have no reason for wasting their energy reaching out for nothing. But should they find a way into your home, there are other non-toxic ways of repelling them. For example, spray them with soapy water or place cucumber slices at their entry point. Check our best mosquito traps and best mosquito repellent reviews.
Biological Methods
Biological methods also known as biocontrol is a pest management method which invokes the use of other organisms to eliminate pests. This mechanism solely relies on herbivory, parasitism, and predation. Biocontrol takes place in three phases. For example, a naturally occurring enemy of a pest is introduced with the aim of controlling them in a process dubbed as importation.
The second phase known as augmentation involves the administration of a large population of pest enemies for fast pest control. For the aforementioned phase to be successful, one requires a steady flow of natural enemies. To meet this criterion, the enemies are regularly reestablished through conservation. Check our best spider killers and repellents.