Integrated pest management (IPM) in dryland horticultural crops

India has successfully reduced pesticide consumption without adversely affecting the agricultural productivity. This was facilitated by appropriate policies that discouraged pesticide use, and favored IPM application. Despite it, adoption of IPM is low owing to a number of socio-economic, institutional and policy constraints. On the supply side, lack of commercial availability of biopesticides and inappropriate institutional technology transfer mechanisms are the critical impediments to increased application of IPM. IPM is a complex process and farmers lack understanding of biological processes of pests and their predators and methods of application of new technology components. The socio-economic environment of farming is also an important factor in adoption of IPM. There are a number of IPM practices that work best when applied by the entire community and in a synchronized mode