Pest Control In Bakersfield involves reducing the number of unwanted organisms to acceptable levels. This is usually accomplished through prevention, suppression, and eradication.
Natural forces influence the population of any organism, including pests. These include climate, natural enemies, food and water supplies, and shelter.
Pesticides should be used only when non-toxic methods fail or are impractical. Always follow the product label’s instructions and safety warnings.
Pests interfere with human activities by eating or damaging plants, invading buildings, and spreading diseases. While some organisms are inherently pests, most become pests when their numbers reach a threshold that causes harm. Pest control focuses on deterring or destroying these organisms. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is often used in food processing environments to minimize the need for pesticides.
Sanitation practices prevent and suppress pests by reducing food, water, and shelter access. Cleaning equipment and surfaces, improving sanitation and food handling procedures, preventing insect infestations by blocking entrances, and removing food waste all reduce the opportunities for pests. Keeping plant and animal areas clean also decreases the chances of disease transmission.
Physical controls include traps, screens, barriers, fences, and nets. They are effective when used in conjunction with other control methods and when based on a sound knowledge of pest behavior and migration patterns. Traps are most effective when they can be positioned along pests’ preferred routes. Barriers, on the other hand, are more effective when they can be placed where the pests cannot escape.
Chemical pesticides are substances or fungicides that kill organisms by disrupting the normal function of cells, tissues, and organs. They are often applied to crops to protect them from insects, weeds, and diseases, and in homes and public spaces to kill ants, flies, mosquitoes, rodents, and other common pests. They may be sprayed directly onto plants, into the air, or into water. They can be toxic to humans and animals if swallowed or inhaled, so use of pesticides is closely monitored and controlled.
When pesticides are used, it is important to read and follow the product labels carefully. The proper amount and frequency of application is essential for maximum effectiveness. Overuse of a pesticide can lead to the development of resistance, so it is important to rotate chemicals and use them sparingly. It is also critical that personnel not handle or apply pesticides without being properly trained and equipped.
Suppression
The goal of suppression is to keep pest populations below damaging levels. This usually involves monitoring pest numbers and taking action when the numbers reach threshold levels. Thresholds are determined through scouting, trapping, or other forms of pest surveillance. For example, a few wasps buzzing around in the garden may not warrant control, but more wasps may indicate that a nest has been built nearby and needs to be destroyed. Monitoring also includes evaluating whether the conditions that favor pest development have changed and adjusting management practices accordingly. This could include switching to a different variety of plant, changing storage procedures or improving sanitation in industrial or food handling areas. Good sanitation practices can reduce the spread of many pests by eliminating their food, water or shelter. These can include using clean seeds and transplants, reducing harborage, cleaning equipment and storing materials properly, and frequent garbage pickup. Sanitation practices can also reduce the carryover of agricultural pests to new fields by removing crop residues and improving field sanitation. It can also reduce the spread of disease organisms such as fungi and bacteria, including anthrax spores (which are considered pests by EPA).
Devices and machines that physically capture or alter pests or their environment are called mechanical or physical controls. Examples include traps, screens, barriers, fences, radiation and electricity, and bird scarers and stored product fumigation. Changes in the environment can also affect pests, for example, by altering temperature and humidity or providing alternative sources of food or water.
Some pests have natural enemies that can help suppress them, and these are often used in biological control programs. The use of these natural enemies, or the introduction of additional enemy species, is sometimes supplemented by chemicals, especially when environmental conditions are unfavorable for the growth of natural predators and parasites.
Chemical pesticides can be effective for a wide range of pests, including insects, weeds, nematodes, nemeses and mollusks. However, the risk of harm to people and the environment must always be weighed against the benefits of controlling the pests. It is important to follow the directions on the label when applying any pesticide, as this will ensure proper and safe use of the product.
Eradication
The term pest control is used to describe a range of activities that seek to regulate or manage species which are considered to impact negatively on human activity and/or the environment. This could include anything from removing unwanted weeds or animals to using insecticides on crops. The level of control sought will depend on the importance of the damage caused and can vary from tolerance, deterrence or suppression, through to attempts at eradication.
Eradication is arguably the most difficult form of pest control to achieve, and even this can have conflicting definitions. According to infectious disease anthropologist Thomas Aiden Cockburn, eradication is the “permanent reduction to zero worldwide incidences of infection from a particular agent as a result of deliberate efforts.” This definition would leave two diseases – smallpox and rinderpest – unaffected, although it would mean that samples of VARV and RPV still exist in facilities around the world (Corona, 2020).
Another way of viewing eradication is to use the term’s Latin root word, eradicare, which means to uproot or remove from the roots. This would be a more accurate approach, as it is the removal of the root cause of the problem rather than just eliminating the symptoms of the disease.
Biological control is a method of reducing the number of pests by introducing natural enemies into an area to prey on them, such as parasites or predators. This can be combined with other methods, such as the release of sterile insects or the use of pheromones to trigger pests to lay eggs or become nymphs at lower levels of the population.
This type of pest control is usually not classed as eradication, because the amount of the pest population in the area will fluctuate with the availability of food, water and shelter. However, it is an effective and environmentally friendly method of pest control.
While any individual can carry out a small scale pest control on their own for things such as the odd ant’s nest in the garden, large scale pest control is carried out by expert FM companies and professional pest controllers, especially within commercial premises. There are some 878 licensed commercial pest control companies operating in the UK. These can provide a wide range of services from cockroach control to termite treatment and everything in between.
Biological Control
Biological control uses naturally occurring predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and competitors to reduce pest populations and their damage. It has the potential to replace or reduce reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides in integrated pest management systems (IPM). NIFA supports biological control research because it can reduce our dependence on chemicals, provide alternatives for growers and landscapers, and improve environmental quality.
Unlike fungicides and insecticides, biocontrol agents are not toxic to humans or pets. They also have the advantage of being environmentally safe and energy self-sufficient. In addition, their use does not result in the development of pest resistance.
The success of biological control depends on the accuracy with which the target species is identified and the availability of suitable habitat for the organisms. A high degree of host specificity is sought for all biological control organisms in order to minimize effects on other plants and animals. Biological control is generally less expensive than conventional pesticides. It is also sustainable and easy to integrate into IPM programs.
There are four main approaches to biological control: using resident natural enemies in an ecosystem without direct human intervention (natural and conservation biological control), adding additional biological control organisms for permanent or temporary establishment (classical and augmentative biological control), and introducing exotic natural enemies through importation and mass production for release (augmentation biological control). Using residents rather than imported organisms is the most sustainable option.
A number of steps are required before a biological control agent can be approved for release. Accurate identification of the target pest species is needed, and surveys are conducted to identify co-evolved natural enemies in their native environment. Once a natural enemy has been found, it must be propagated and tested for its ability to suppress the target pest, for safety to non-target organisms, and for its ability to persist in the environment in which it is introduced. Once it has been approved, the organism may be shipped to the United States and released into its new environment.
The last step is to monitor the impact of the natural enemy on the target pest population and make adjustments as necessary. Because the natural enemy is a living organism, it takes time to suppress the target pest. However, the slow build up of biological control can be an important advantage for those who practice it.