Cultural Approaches

Abstract

The cultural control practices frequently involve variations of standard horticultural and agricultural practices that often prove to be effective methods for pest management. The primary aim of cultural control is prevention and reduction of pest outbreaks. They create an environment which is favorable for the crop and unfavorable for the pests. Several cultural practices, such as sanitation, crop rotation, cover cropping, trap cropping, and crop diversification, water and mineral nutrition management, and alteration of planting and harvesting times, are mainly used for enhancing soil quality and plant health. Cultural practices are also less commonly known as ecological control methods, as they modify the relationships between a pest population and its natural environment. The primary advantages of cultural control tactics include simplicity and low cost. Even though cultural practices alone may not be able to give complete pest controls, they can form potential components in minimizing pest injury and should be considered in any integrated control program.