Organic farmers and producers who use integrated pest management to control weeds, disease and insect have overlapping interests, says a white paper that calls for collaboration between the groups. Certified organic producers are required to use IPM, but unlike organic, IPM is not a distinct production system so it can be used by many types of producers. “Few leaders and practitioners actively participate in both the IMP and organic communities, foregoing the synergies that could come from exchanging ideas and joint pursuit of common priorities,” says the paper by the Organic and IPM Working Group. Less than 10 percent of U.S. cropland is cultivated under organic or IPM methods.
The white paper recommends larger funding of research and demonstration of organic and IPM practices; government programs that pay growers for “ecosystem benefits provided” by organic and IPM agriculture; elimination of public funding for programs “that encourage unsustainable practices based on maximizing yield and profits at the expense of environmental quality and health; and more incentives to produce materials such as biopesticides that are compatible with organic and IPM farming.
Organic agriculture is a success among consumers “but needs help transitioning producers to meet market demand. IPM has a broader acceptance in governmental policy and in conventional farming but has struggled with creating adequate economic incentives for adoption especially in large-acreage commodity crops,” says the working group.