AREA-WIDE MANAGEMENT OF MAJOR PEST INSECTS

In earlier times, each extended family satisfied its needs for essential services such as water, fuel, lighting and sewage disposal independently of its neighbours. The desire for more effective and efficient delivery of these services transformed them from “local” to “area-wide” (AW) supply of clean water and the collection of the garbage and disposal of sewage. Today, AW services (e.g. electricity, mail service, fire protection, public health, high-speed transport, telephone, internet services, etc.) are widespread. Applied to insect pests, AW strategies have their ancient roots in coping with vector-borne diseases and locust plagues. They focus on the preventive management of major mobile pest populations throughout the ecosystem, treating all habitats of the pest population to avoid large sources of migrants to re-establish significant infestations in areas of concern. In contrast, the conventional strategy focuses narrowly on defending the valued entity (crop, livestock, people, buildings, etc.) from direct attack by pests. This reactive approach only became possible with the advent of effective modern insecticides, allowing the localized action involving minimal forward planning and independent implementation, without coordination by individual producers, businesses or households. On the other hand AW management requires coordination, multiyear planning and an organization dedicated exclusively to its implementation. For several decades integrated pest management (IPM) and AW pest control were seen as competing paradigms with different objectives and approaches. Yet, the two “schools” have gradually converged. AW-IPM is increasingly accepted for mobile pests, such as fruit flies that are key pests of citrus and other fruit and vegetable crops, where management at a larger scale is more effective, environmentally friendly and preferable to the uncoordinated field-by-field approach.