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Could
Farmscaping Be Right for You?
Does saving time and/or
money interest you, especially when it comes to controlling harmful
insects in your garden or field? Or
are you interested in taking a holistic approach to increasing
production and reducing chemical inputs?
Farmscaping could be the answer you are looking for.
Think
of your garden or field that you plant, weed and water each season as
a dense and pure concentration of a pest’s basic food resource.
These pests natural enemies are affected by the type of pests,
crops, and cultural practices involved.
Modern cultural activities such as tillage, weeding,
intercropping and harvesting can have serious effects on the balance
of insects of the garden or farm.
By understanding the biology of the harmful pests and
beneficial insects is an excellent way of minimizing the disruptive
impact of modern production.
How
Do Farmscapes Work?
I’m sure that many of you
have heard of IPM (Intergraded Pest Management) before and might even
use it on your own garden/farm. (Further
explanation of IPM: http://www.vaipm.org/the_ipm_concept.php
) Successful farmscaping
takes IPM one step further to the Integrated Biological Control (IBC)
level, which focuses on conservation of natural enemies through
increased understanding of their food, mating, and egg deposition,
larval, pupa and adult developmental habits.
This idea of using biological control of economically
destructive insect pests is over 100 yrs. old.
Most crops no matter what they are have pests that are specific
to that crop or pests that attack a specific plant family.
By understanding these natural enemies life history requisites
for these natural enemies, including food plants, extra floral nectar
sites, over wintering plants and sites, we are able to use natural
enemies to bring about a stable low population of the pests.
The
Importance of Scouting ...
Scouting your garden or
field on a regular basis is very important to gain a real time look
into what is going on with your crops. If
you are considering reducing the amount or frequency that you are
going to spray, wouldn’t it be nice to check on the kinds and
amounts of beneficial insects in your field?
How do I know what I am
looking at? I like to
refer to pictures and the following website. http://www.drmcbug.com/
When and how often?
You need to understand the life cycle of what you are looking
for, but a good rule of thumb is weekly and in some cases bi-weekly.
Which plants do I scout in
the field? It is a good
idea to stay away from the edge effects, which means try to scout in
the middle of the field using an “X” pattern.
Once your farmscaping is
set up you want 1/4 - 1/3 minimum of your plants to show beneficial
insect activity or are totally clean.
Remember
that your natural garden does not need to happen all at once -- you
can make the transformation gradually over several years.
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