Get to know more about 1pm. part 2

oGOOD Morning to you all once again. How was your week. Fruitful I hope. You know, there are, in my opinion, two types of people in the World. Those who come into a room and say: Here I am”' and those who come in and say” ah, there you are”. How different are those two approaches! One says “look at me” I need attention”. While the other one says “tell me about yourself”. One says” “I'm important”' The other says” you are important”, one says” The world revolves around me”. the other says”. I'm here to serve you “. Wouldn't it be great to be know as the second kind of persons someone who displays the love of Christ openly and unanimously. So friend's which one are you? Lets pause for a moment: Lord teach us the secret of loving, the love you are asking today. Then help us to love one another, for this we most earnestly pray. People with a heart for God have a heart for people.

Our topic-So, how do farmers learn 1pm ? Rice farmers for instance learn 1pm through farmer field school. The farmers learn things like plant health, the role of biological control agents or friendly organisms, and the ability of the plant to compensate to certain level of damage. They learn to make appropriate management decisions based on their field observations. Farmers become better decision makers once they learn 1pm. Generally, 1pm. is applicable to all pests, although pest management approaches or tool for insects, diseases, weeds, rats and golden apple snail etc. may have slight variations, but the concepts are basically the same.

So what benefits do the farmers derive from 1pm. in rice and vegetables. I said earlier that 1pm. aims to reduce losses due to pests, I also said that in attaining this objective, research is focused on increasing the income of farmers, safeguarding their health and safety, maintaining environment and ecological stability and sustainability. Therefore, farmers who practice 1pm. spend less money and time in managing pests. He is less exposed to hazardous pesticide, and conserves friendly organisms in the fields. Resulting in ecological stability, and remember, farmers who practice 1pm., what else could be done to control pests, well the most common control method is the use of pesticides alone. However, chemical pesticides are not expected to achieve the objective of permanently reducing pest population to an acceptable level. We can only achieve this objective through primary pest management components like pest resistant varieties, cultural practices and conservation of natural enemies.

Take note that although complete elimination of chemical insecticides may not be possible in all areas, it maybe realistic in other areas. So what lies ahead for people who want to practice 1pm ? Pesticides of course, will still be one of the tools in any 1pm. program. However, their use in the future will emphasize on a centralized planning and decision-making approach. As research is directed to the farmers needs more, and more, pesticides use will be given serious consideration in the farmer level, emphasizing on toxicity level, health hazard, timing of application, dose, cost, effects on non-target organisms and the environment.

New technologies that will improve decision making will greatly emphasize on: a) ecological approach on spatial and temporal variations in the landscape of pests and natural enemies, b) a better understanding of the integration of pests and 1pm. technologies as affected by soil, water and nutrients, c) and the evaluation of the impact on modern pesticides, including microbials and the pesticidal effects of transgenic plants, on the mortality, behavior and fitness of pests and non-targeted organisms. Technologies developed by international research institutes in collaboration with national agriculture research systems, private companies, local government units, and non-government organizations will be promoted for field implementation to make then accessible to the farmers. Well friends, I hope this is of some value to you. Take care, see you next week…