Pest Control Methods in Organic Agriculture

Abstract

In the conventional agriculture system, as a result of intensive activities carried out in order to get higher efficiency from the unit area, the excessive exploitation of the soil, environmental pollution, deterioration of the natural balance and product quality, and the formation of residues in the product have led to the emergence of negativities. Conscious producers and consumers have come together and developed the concept of Ecological Agriculture in order to eliminate these negativities and to produce and consume healthier products. Ecological agriculture includes human and environment-friendly production systems aimed at re-establishing the natural balance lost with faulty practices as a result of intensive agriculture. With this system, it is aimed to make a high quality production by making use of organic and green fertilization, crop rotation, soil conservation, resistant varieties, parasitoids against pests, and predators, as well as using inputs that do not have a permanent effect on the product produced in the agricultural land. In short, ecological agriculture is an environmentally friendly system that requires careful, knowledgeable and self-sacrificing use of all the opportunities provided by modern agricultural technology within the framework of ecological agriculture principles.