André Leu: Alternatives to Pesticides

An emerging strategy for replacing pesticides, including natural ones, advocates using ecological management systems that can provide functional services. This is achieved by intensifying functional biodiversity to deliver the eco-system services such as pest, disease and weed control as well as delivering nutrients to the cash crop through making them biologically available. The key is to identify these eco-functions and then intensify them in the farming systems so that they replace the need for insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and the need for nutrients to be brought on to the farm. A good example of this is adding insectaries into the farming system. Insectaries are groups of plants that attract and host the beneficial arthropods (insects, bugs, spiders, etc.) and higher animal species. These are the natural enemies of the pests in farms, orchards and gardens.

(1 hour, 1 minute, 27 seconds) Recorded at the 2017 Acres U.S.A. Conference, Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, December 7, 2017.