Natural Pest Control
Benjamin Marth, Lauren Calkins, Skyler Lamley
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What is Natural Pest Control in Agriculture?
What is Natural Pest Control in Agriculture?
Natural pest control is the deterrent and extermination of organisms, which are harmful and damage crops, by means of naturally occurring chemicals and biology.
The intent of natural pest control is to avoid the introduction of harmful, manufactured chemicals into the environment.
What are Pests?
What are Pests?
Pests in agriculture are classified as any organism that can cause damage to profit crops (Finch et al., 2014). There are a wide variety of pests throughout the world, but many of them fall under the same broad categories. Types of pests can include:
Animals (deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc.)
Insects (beetles, worms, flies, etc.)
Moisture (mildew)
Diseases (mold, fungi, etc.)
Common Pests:
Common Pests:
Animals/Insects
Herbivore mammals
Rats/rodents
Insects
Mildew/Moisture
Powdery mildew
Downy mildew
Grey mold
Root rot
Diseases
Animals/Insects
Herbivore mammals
Insects
Japanese beetles
Emerald ash borer
European cherry fruit fly
Grasshopper
Mildew/Moisture
Powdery mildew
Downy mildew
Grey mold
Root rot
Diseases
Animals/Insects
Deer
Birds
Squirrels
Voles
Insects (Japanese beetles)
Mildew/Moisture
Powdery mildew
Downy mildew
Grey mold
Root rot
Diseases
The Pest Problem
The Pest Problem
Pests can wreak havoc on both gardens and large-scale agriculture fields, but the use of chemical insecticides and pest deterrents can cause both harm to the crops and health hazards to humans, so it is our goal to determine an optimal solution to naturally control pests.
Background
Common Natural Pest Control Methods:
Common Natural Pest Control Methods:
Bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria can be used to control pests, especially insects, by infecting them and killing them. This is a predatory form of pest control. For instance, Bacillus thuringiensis or Milky Spore can be used to exterminate Japanese beetles (USDA). Using bacteria for mammals is dangerous as it is more likely to effect humans as well.
Parasites
Parasites
Parasites, similar to Bacteria, are another form of predatory natural pest control. They can be introduced to target specific insects or mammals. For instance, Tiphia vernalis is a wasp that can be introduced to ecosystems that will hatch its eggs inside Japanese beetles (USDA). Once again, parasites can be introduced to target mammal pests, but they are likely to impact humans or household pets as well, and they are extremely difficult to control.
Pepper Powders
Pepper Powders
A common homemade pest deterrent is the use of ghost pepper or cayenne pepper powder. These spicy peppers can be ground into a powder and sprinkled on plants. The powder acts as an aromatic and unappetizing pest repellent. In fact, studies have shown that seeds can be coated with these powders to deter animals from eating them (Taylor et al., 2020).
Essential Oils
Essential Oils
Similar to spicy pepper powders, essential oils can be used as an aromatic pest deterrent. Scents such as bergamont, neem, and pine can be used to deter residential pests like squirels and mice (Taylor et al., 2020). Similar to pepper powders, these essential oils can be applied to the seeds directly. As these oils occur naturally, they do not pose health concerns for humans.
Devices
Devices
Mechanical devices can be built to deter pests. These devices can use motion or noise to frighten animals and birds away by mimicking natural predators. Some examples of these devices are foil or mylar tape, noise makers, scarecrows, flags, and rubber snakes (UF IFAS). Continuous motion and repetitive noise creates the illusion of a human or predatory pressence, which acts as pest control for larger pests like deer, squirrels, and birds.
Human Hair
Human Hair
Human hair can be used as an aromatic pest deterrent for mammal pests. The hair mimics the presence of a human in the crop area, which deters timid animals such as deer and squirrels from feeding in the vicinity (Soderstrom, 2009).
Horticulture Oils
Horticulture Oils
There are various methods to control the spread of mildew and moisture including neem oil and a mixture of baking soda and Sunspray. Neem oil is a tested method that has shown success while the mixture is still experimental and is recommend that you use at your own risk (Colostate)
Cultural Practices
Cultural Practices
The best method for managing the spread of mildew and moisture is prevention (UC IPM). This would include spacing out plants for good air circulation, planting in full sun, and even maintaining a clean area by removing declining plants and debris (UC IPM).
Natural Pest Control Method: Companion Planting
Companion Planting to Compete
Companion Planting to Compete
taking up space with roots in the soil to stop egg laying insects and creating physical barriers above ground to stop larger pests and slow down crawling and climbing insects.
Companions that Attract
Companions that Attract
distract from more valuable crops with attractive "trap crops" that the pests will eat instead.
long season -flowering plants, such as the aster family, that attract predatory flying insects such as wasps and spiders that hunt leaf eating and sap sucking insects.
Companions that Repel
Companions that Repel
odorous flowering plants such as the mustard family repel pests varying from deer and rabbits down to aphids
other aromatic plants such as the daisy family repel parasitic nematodes in the soil that are repelled by oils from the root's exudation (waste output).
In the Caribbean, marigold and neem plants are incorporated into crop fields to deter herbivorous animals (Ganpat and Isaac, 2012).
Drought-Stressed Plants Taste Better
Drought-Stressed Plants Taste Better
Dehydration of the veins of the xylem causes build up of nitrogen compounds including amino acids (Water, 2013). Amino acids equal umami, literally.
Ground-Cover Companions Act as a Living Mulch
Ground-Cover Companions Act as a Living Mulch
The additional ground-cover companion plants cool and shade the soil and thus the roots while keeping the moisture from evaporating out of the soil.
Additional groundcover keeps the soil moist and is necessary for supporting beneficial microbes and plant feeding fungi.
Companion Planting with deep rooting Vegetation
Companion Planting with deep rooting Vegetation
promotes infiltration of rainwater, lessening the need to water.
improves soil composition and breaks deep into less-accessible deeper minerals that are then able to accessed by microbes and made into plant usable charged ions.
Disease Prevention
Disease Prevention
Disease Eats Decay
Disease Eats Decay
Soilborne diseases like stem and crown rot, wilt disease, root rot, and bacterial diseases can be controlled through interplanting of vegetation that live in different planes of the Rhizosphere (soil layer in which plant roots live). If there is nothing sick, there is nothing vulnerable to infection.
Pathogens need a disruption in the plant surface to get access to the xylem, healthy soil systems, water balance, and safety from heat and cold, support healthy plants.
Disturbance to the underground attempts at natural homeostasis, stops the microbial activity, and requires community rebuild before plant interaction can continue.
Our Plan
Our Plan
For this project, we will implement companion planting in both the Sustainable Agriculture Project and surrounding neighborhoods to combat pests such as mammals, unwanted insects, mildew, and diseases while improving nutrient content in the soil. Specifically, our plan will target the use of complimentary cover, root inter-planing, and reseeding perennials of agricultural ally plant families, such as Aster and Mustard families, to develop a self-sustaining ecosystem to naturally combat pests.
SCOPE and OBJECTIVES
SCOPE and OBJECTIVES
This budget is based on a scope similar to the current SAP scale, but it is still an accessible scale for urban use. Our project utilizes half an acre, which is 21,780 square feet. In comparison, a city block is 69,696 square feet. After vegetation spread, this much area could become unmanageable.
The objective is to create a consumer-usable companion planting design that
builds on current knowledge of plant family symbiosis to support soil health for natural pest control and nutrient building.
includes many of the currently accessible and popular agricultural crops.
uses mostly permaculture techniques to decrease need for reseeding.
is able to be used, understood, and personalized by the common household.
Plant Ally Families used for Pest Control includes
Asters - for attracting predatory insects that require blooming plants the entire growing season.
Mustards- for repelling leaf eating and sap sucking insects.
Daisies/Marigolds- for repelling soil living nematodes and beetle grubs.
Alliums/Garlic- repelling tree borers, beetles, mites and more.
Budget
Budget
RESEARCH and DESIGN:
This subset of the process would entail hiring three undergraduate interns with a paid Professor Advisor to perform research and design circular neighborhoods of Michigan-specific, desired crops with allies that support the 4 categories of soil health.
This would require approximately 12 cumulative hours of Design Workshopping, with an additional 12 hours of installment overseeing for each intern. The national hourly average for undergraduate student intern pay is $16.17. At this rate, the research would require just under $1200 for intern pay and $600 for professor pay, for a cumulative $1800 for research cost.
INFRASTRUCTURE and SOIL AMENDMENT:
Because the proposed project is ultimately designed to create it’s own soil quality and cover while acting in a fairly utilitarian manner, soil amendment should be minimal. As such, the primary item for the soil amendment would be the addition of a drainage medium to allow for gravity-watering earthworks. Reclaimed crushed concrete costs $24 per ton and is approved in Michigan as a beneficial soil amendment for lime. The only additional requirement is that it pass a regulated lime test. Some cold frames are in scope of our project but reclaimed and recycled materials seem to fit the universally accessible theme of the design and will need to be in the design without being too specific as to required materials. Overall, expected costs for soil amendment total $400.
SEEDS and TRANSPLANTS:
Seeds will be fairly inexpensive and mostly localized to cold resistant varieties. Without falling on the possibility of help from seed trusts and other sources of free agricultural seeds, we would estimate a rough but safe, average price of $5 per pound of agricultural seed.
It is estimated that 1 pound of seed covers at least 200 square feet, and for the purpose of this project, full seeding would only occur once. For the half acre plot model specified, roughly 110 pounds of seed would be required for the first year, totally at $550. As some of the seeds will be started indoors, an approximated energy cost was added at $50 per month with a total of 3 months incubation.
INSTALLMENT and UPKEEP:
For the transplanting and yearly upkeep, it is recommended that this be performed using volunteer hours. As the project matures, upkeep should decrease with the growth in root systems. Most of the extensive installment labor during the first year could be performed by volunteers or students to reduce costs. Reseeding will be performed manually until healthy boundaries are set and ally plant families are well-established.
Triple Bottom Line Analysis
This focuses on the impact of "ally plant" companion planting on people in the community.
Pros:
Offers an opportunity for community involvement through volunteering.
Provides aesthetically pleasing landscape among profit crops.
Cons:
Limits flower types that can be used.
Does not consider allergies.
This focuses on the impact of "ally plant" companion planting on the economy where the plan is implemented.
Pros:
Long-term implementation is inexpensive and self-sustaining.
The plants to be used are relatively inexpensive and take a couple months to fully develop.
Cons:
Startup cost is larger due to the necessary, large-scale landscaping.
If annuals are used, this plan will require yearly maintenance.
This focuses on the impact of "ally plant" companion planting on the environment.
Pros:
Companion planting will improve profit crop productivity and increase soil nutrients.
This plan provides a natural pest repellent as well as a weed suppressant that will not harm the environment with chemicals.
Cons:
Startup landscaping will disrupt the current environment for the profit crops.
If executed incorrectly, this could create competition for nutrients, leading to a reduction in profit crop output.
Works Cited:
Finch, H. J. S., Samuel, A. M., & Lane, G. P. F. (2014). 7—Pests of farm crops. In H. J. S. Finch, A. M. Samuel, & G. P. F. Lane (Eds.), Lockhart & Wiseman’s Crop Husbandry Including Grassland (Ninth Edition) (pp. 158–189). Woodhead Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781782423928.1.158
Https://nourishproject.ca/companion-planting. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://nourishproject.ca/companion-planting
UC IFM. Managing Pests in Gardens: Diseases: Botrytis Blight—UC IPM. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/DISEASES/botrytis.html
Michigan Legislature—Section 324.11502. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(035eojmejyp0cn50i4w1fm3w))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-324-11502
UC IFM. Powdery Mildew on Ornamentals Management Guidelines—UC IPM. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7493.html
Colostate. Powdery Mildews—2.902. (n.d.). Extension. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/powdery-mildews-2-902/
Riotte, L. (2004). Carrots love tomatoes & roses love garlic: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Rodale.
Soderstrom, N. (2009). Deer-Resistant Landscaping: Proven Advice and Strategies for Outwitting Deer and 20 Other Pesky Mammals. Harmony/Rodale.
Taylor, J. B., Cass, K. L., Armond, D. N., Madsen, M. D., Pearson, D. E., & St. Clair, S. B. (2020). Deterring rodent seed-predation using seed-coating technologies. Restoration Ecology, 28(4), 927–936. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13158
USDA APHIS | Pests and Diseases. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases
Water Uptake and Transport in Vascular Plants | Learn Science at Scitable. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/water-uptake-and-transport- in-vascular-plants-103016037/
UF IFAS. How to Use Deterrents to Stop Damage Caused by Nuisance Wildlife in Your Yard. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW371
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