IPM reduces insecticide applications by 95% while maintaining or enhancing crop yields through wild pollinator conservation

Abstract

Pest management practices in modern industrial agriculture have increasingly relied on insurance-based insecticides such as seed treatments that are poorly correlated with pest density or crop damage. This approach, combined with high invertebrate toxicity for newer products like neonicotinoids, makes it challenging to conserve beneficial insects and the services that they provide. We used a 4-y experiment using commercial-scale fields replicated across multiple sites in the midwestern United States to evaluate the consequences of adopting integrated pest management (IPM) using pest thresholds compared with standard conventional management (CM). To do so, we employed a systems approach that integrated coproduction of a regionally dominant row crop (corn) with a pollinator-dependent specialty crop (watermelon). Pest populations, pollination rates, crop yields, and system profitability were measured. Despite higher pest densities and/or damage in both crops, IPM-managed pests rarely reached economic thresholds, resulting in 95% lower insecticide use (97 versus 4 treatments in CM and IPM, respectively, across all sites, crops, and years). In IPM corn, the absence of a neonicotinoid seed treatment had no impact on yields, whereas IPM watermelon experienced a 129% increase in flower visitation rate by pollinators, resulting in 26% higher yields. The pollinator-enhancement effect under IPM management was mediated entirely by wild bees; foraging by managed honey bees was unaffected by treatments and, overall, did not correlate with crop yield. This proof-of-concept experiment mimicking on-farm practices illustrates that cropping systems in major agricultural commodities can be redesigned via IPM to exploit ecosystem services without compromising, and in some cases increasing, yields.

Keywords: crop pollination; ecological intensification; integrated pest management; neonicotinoid seed treatments.

Fig. 1.

SCBs were higher in IPM watermelon fields, but infrequently reached levels associated with economic loss. Watermelon fields within both a CM (A) and IPM (B) system were scouted weekly, and each point represents a 15-plant average of SCBs from seedling transplant until fruit harvest. Red lines in each graph indicate the five-beetle/plant economic threshold, while circles (2018), squares (2019), and triangles (2020) differentiate experiment years. In IPM fields, in each instance in which beetle levels reached the economic threshold, insecticide was applied <2 d following the survey.

Fig. 2.

The rate of visits to watermelon flowers (A) and transition visits from a male to female flower (B) were both significantly higher in IPM fields. Each point within a cluster (n = 5) represents all observations from a single site during that field season (225 observation minutes). Whiskers within the plot show the mean ± SEM of all sites within each cluster.

Fig. 3.

Corn yield was unaffected by CM system (A), but watermelon yield was significantly higher when grown under an IPM system (B). Each point within a cluster (n = 5) represents the yield from a site during that field season. Whiskers within the plot show the mean ± SEM of all sites within each cluster. Corn and watermelon icons from BioRender.

Fig. 4.

Honey bees (A) did not predict watermelon yield, but increased wild pollinator visitation (B) in the IPM fields resulted in higher watermelon yield. All plots were stocked with two honey bee colonies at opposite corners of the field. Each point is the total number of observed pollinator visits at a field per site (n = 5 sites with 225 observation minutes) and the corresponding site’s average watermelon yield. Best-fit trend line shows relationship using regression model with P < 0.05. Bee icons from BioRender.