PEST MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

Abstract

Organic food is produced by means of practices that promote the fertility of soil and biological diversity, and exclude such chemical products being used in conventional agriculture. It has been observed that in isolated regions this kind of production does not present serious inconveniences, because the system by itself protects the crops from high levels of pests and diseases. Organic food demand has being increased since two decades ago, and isolated-small productions cannot satisfy market requirements. This demand has become a very important opportunity for farmer’s development of many countries. However, it has some inconveniences when trying to amplify surfaces and to obtain both high yields and quality from crops, because some basic principles of organic agriculture are difficult to follow. In cases of mayor surfaces this is reflected on the raise of pest and diseases, and that is the reason to implement activities to help the system to reduce such harmful populations. Within the control methods that can be used in this kind of agriculture, there are the biological, cultural, mechanical, and physical methods, with the restrictions and limitations that are imposed by the standards and regulations of certification agencies. It is very important to growers to determine an optimum pest management, regarding the modern recommended strategies, but with the care of just select activities regarded inside the regulatory environment of organic agriculture. We present some of the most outstanding alternatives to implement management programs, focusing on the current regulation environment to obtain; avoiding the risk of loosing the certification as organic producer