About IPM and its benefits
Integrated Pest Management is a holistic approach to pest control. It combines strategies such as biological control and cultural practices, and uses pesticides as a last resort. It can help you minimise economic, health, and environmental risks while effectively managing pests on your farm.
Unlike traditional methods that rely heavily on chemical pesticides, IPM integrates multiple techniques to manage crop pests sustainably. It emphasises preventive measures, biological controls, and monitoring to reduce your reliance on chemicals, and helps reduce the potential for pest populations becoming resistant to chemicals.
Adopting IPM can lead to many benefits for you. This includes reducing hazards and associated costs of using pesticides, improving crop health and yield, protecting beneficial insects, decreasing environmental impact, and complying with regulations. It can also help you meet consumer demands for safer and more sustainable farming practices which can give you a competitive advantage with retailers.
Biological Services can help you implement IPM on your farm by assessing your specific pest pressures and tailoring an IPM program for you. This can include introducing beneficial biological control agents, recommending improvements in cultural practices such as farm hygiene, undertaking crop monitoring and advising you on using targeted pesticide applications when necessary.
Transitioning to IPM may require you to adjust your farming practices, such as adopting new monitoring techniques, implementing habitat diversification to support beneficial insects, and reevaluating pest management timelines. The long-term benefits of reduced pesticide reliance and improved sustainability make it worthwhile.
Yes, IPM is suitable for a wide range of indoor and outdoor crops. From greenhouse vegetables, flowers and ornamentals to fruit orchards and field crops, Biological Services can tailor an IPM strategy to suit your growing situation.
Contact the Biological Services team. We have been pioneers in IPM in Australia since 1971 and have helped hundreds of growers manage key pests in common crops through our expert knowledge, high-quality beneficial products, and on-site monitoring and advisory services.
You can also boost your IPM knowledge through the Biobest Academy.
Products, Ordering and Shipping
Absolutely! All of our products are already present in the country or native to Australia.
Most beneficials do not feed on plants. Most feed on pests or other foods such as pollen and nectar. Beneficials are completely safe for people and the environment. Our Biological Services IPM Consultants have extensive knowledge of the relationship between pest, crop and product and can customise your pest management approach to suit your situation.
Yes. We invest a great deal in research and development to make sure our packaging protects beneficial and gives them nourishment during transit. We also use quality shipping partners who can deliver quickly and provide the right temperature and transit conditions the beneficials need. Problems are rare but where they occur, we will replace any items that are damaged in transit.
It depends on the product and your crop. Initially, you will receive information with your order with details on how you can store the beneficials if you can’t release them straight away, and how to distribute them in your crop. We have different package options with beneficials including easy-hang sachets which our IPM Consultants can discuss with you.
Yes. Many of our growers are on a regular release program to maintain a healthy number of beneficials in their greenhouses and outdoor farms. This also gives them significant savings compared to ordering products ad-hoc.
Get tailored advice for your commercial crop
To speak with one of our qualified consultants about your current commercial crop challenge or to learn about the benefits of the IPM maintenance and monitoring services we provide, contact us.
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