The need to protect our food resources from invading pests has been a laborious process since the beginning of humankind. Long ago, pest control practices were reactionary to specific pests, geared toward specific conditions, and not as strategic as practices used today.
Even into the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, eradication was the primary response to pest-related issues. Fortunately, cooler heads began to understand that managing pests through control strategies, rather than annihilation, was the key to success. Thus, integrated pest management (IPM), as the new approach was known, began to develop into today’s strategies.