248 Facilitator’s Handbook for Permaculture Workshops
IPM works well for small home gardens, market gardens, large crops, rice
production, fruit trees, and all systems.To be healthy and resilient, plants need good growing conditions, including:- Fertile soil.
- Sufficient water.
- The right amount of sunlight.
Different plants require different conditions. Some like very dry soil, some like moist soil,
some like shade, some like full sun, etc. There are many different ‘micro-climates’ on
each piece of land and if plants are matched with their preferred conditions they will grow
better and be much more disease resistant.For example:- Wet soil – Water spinach.
- Shady forest – Vanilla.
- Dry sandy soil – cactus.
There are many aspects of IPM to help reduce pest problems naturally:- Healthy, living soil – Strengthens plant resilience.
- Natural pest predators – Control pest numbers.
- Healthy environment – Keeps pests in balance and encourages pest predators.
- Open-pollinated, non-hybrid seeds – Stronger resilience to pests.
- Good crop management, including:
- Crop rotation – Replenishes soil nutrients.
- Natural patterns for garden shapes – Reduces pest attacks.
- Crop diversity, not monoculture – Reduces pest numbers.
- Pest barrier crops – Slows down any pest attacks.
- Companion planting – Helps plants to help each other.
- Making and using baits and traps – Keeps pest numbers low.
- Use of animals in pest control – Effective and efficient pest control method.
- Making and using natural pesticides – Supports healthier environments.
- Biological control – Large-scale natural pest control mechanisms.
Note: When practicing any of these principles remember to learn and use traditional
methods of pest control – Learn from local experiences.See PC Book MOD 9 – Integrated Pest Management and other exercises in this
book for reference and ideas. More explanation about these various techniques as well
as practical exercises for doing them are presented on the following pages.