IPM Extension: A Global Overview

Integrated pest management (IPM) has been accepted as the main strategy for managing pests throughout the world. It has been four decades since IPM programmes were first implemented in the developed and developing countries but the adoption of IPM has been slow compared to pesticide intensive pest management. In the developed countries, IPM extension is through public and/or private extension systems and in developing countries, public extension services are implementing IPM programmes. In the developing countries, IPM extension adopted a top-down approach for transfer of technology mastered by the extension systems without inputs from farmers. Top-down methods did not succeed in disseminating IPM to smallholders. This situation led to the development of the farmer field school participatory method for educating farmers. Integrated Pest Management is a complex technology and it requites comprehensive experiential learning approaches such as FFS to help farmers fully understand applications and implications of IPM. In the United States, there is a close working relationship between research and extension services at the federal and state levels for planning and implementing IPM programmes. These services seek inputs from stakeholders when planning research and extension programs.