Organic Food: Integrative Pest Management

Organic food is food grown within a certain set of conditions, most notably without genetically modified seed and without synthetic herbicides or pesticides. The seed is easy enough to avoid, but pests can wreak havoc on even the most well- planned farm or garden.

Beneficial insects provide a host of, well, benefits in the organic farm or garden. Bees, butterflies and ladybugs all fall victim to pesticide use, and crop spraying of synthetic pesticides kills all insects, not just the bean borers and tomato hornworms.

There are a number of things the organic farm can do to keep pests at bay and one of the methods is actually using predatory pests. Pesticides aren't only harmful to insects; pesticides can damage soil and watersheds as well as sicken wildlife that feast on insects such as birds and some rodents. So organic food production relies on things like "integrated pest management" which consists of inviting certain insects, either by infesting an area or planting pest-attractive plants in with the crops.

Integrated pest management also considers physical barricades for larger pests which can also be a nuisance. The ever- famous Native American triad, the "Three Sisters," incorporates pest management with a physical barrier and other benefits. Three Sisters is the combination of corn, beans and squash. The beans use the corn to climb, fix nitrogen into the soil and prevent the corn from blowing over in the wind. The squash sprawls across the space with its prickly vines and large, abundant leaves providing two succinct actions: one, shading the ground to prevent evaporation, soil erosion and function as a living mulch and two, deterring larger pests from getting to the corn. The brightly colored squash blooms invite bees, butterflies and ladybugs naturally, which all help ensure a ecological balance where all is nurtured and all is fed.

If worse comes to worse and there aren't enough beneficial insects to feed on the troublemakers, there are products on the market that can help gain control of the pests in your farm, homestead or garden.

Many variants of these products can be made at home for a ridiculously minimal investment. I have successfully used a tincture made from boiling garlic and hot peppers to help control flea beetles on eggplant; the oils expressed from boiling infuse the water with a disagreeable sent and texture to many insects, but is perfectly natural and safe for  human consumption and are sprayed directly on the leaves. But like the video explains, the best thing to do is just watch and see if there is real damage to the plant or if insects are just trying to get their own slice of the garden pie. Integrative Pest Management provides a smart, economical and ecological solution for most organic food production needs.

Photo credit: kaibara87