Cultural control method

• It is primarily aimed at the prevention and reduction of pest outbreaks.
• It can be done in the following ways:

a. Destruction of crop residues:

• Destruction of crop residues like dry leaves, stubble, earheads, or other plant parts results to a large extent in the elimination of hibernation and shelter sites for insects.
• Destruction of maize stubble breaks the life cycle of stem borer (Chilo partellus).
• After harvesting of rice water is stagnation for 4-5 days to destroy stubble and damage any stage of rice borer.

b. Use of clean planting material:

• If planting material is already infected it spreads to new areas.
• The use of insect-free planting material is also an important prerequisite for clean cultivation.
• Eg a farmer clips the tip of a rice seedling to remove the egg of Rice Hispa (Dicladispa armiger)before transplanting.

c. Eradication of affected plants and plant parts:

• It prevents from spread of non-infection plant parts and areas from infected plants and areas.

d. Destruction of weeds, and alternative hosts:

• It breaks the life cycle of insects.
• The initial stage of the nymph of Grasshopper consumes weed and after 2-3 nymphal stages it moves to the crop field.

e. Harvesting Time:

• Potato Tuber Moth(Phthorimaea operculella) causes more damage to potatoes if not harvested in a timely.

f. Tillage:

• Summer plowing and up-turning of the lower layer of soil exposes the soil to the summer heat which destroys the soil inhibiting insects.
• Most grasshopper and field crickets lay eggs in 5-10 cm of soil and tillage exposes it to the soil surface.
• It exposes the larvae of insects to the upper layer which may be consumedvertebratesrate.

g. Crop rotation:

• Rotation of crops or change in sequence of cropping patterns result in a much lower incidence of pests.
• The main principle, as far as control of pests is concerned is to disrupt the continuity in readily available food supply or host plant, with the result that the organisms will face starvation and there will be a consequential decline in population.

h. Adjustment of sowing or planting Time:

• Adjustment of the date of sowing may be profitably practiced to circumvent attack by pests by avoiding the peak period of attack.
• Okra planted during Chaitra-Baisakh suffers more severe damage from fruit and shoot borer than those planted during the rainy season.

i. Use of recommended dose of fertilizer:

• Healthy and vigorous plants can resist the attack of a given pest better.
• The dose of fertilizer should be as recommended dose.
• If the Nitrogen dose is higher than recommended it causes more attacks of insects to crop.
• Done for the control of aphids, hoppers, mealy bugs, etc.

j. Use of healthy seed: Not contaminated by the egg of an insect. Eg Nematodes.

k. Grow resistance verities:

• Some plants possess the inherent character of producing an optimum yield of good quality despite the association with economic insect pests. The variety of crops possessing this sort of character is known as a resistance variety.
• Hairy varieties are less preferred by cotton bollworms.

l. Irrigation

• Flooding of fields has been recommended for reducing the attack of cutworms, armyworms, termites, white grubs, etc.

m. Crop diversification

• The monocropping system has a high infection and probability of destruction.

n. Crop Spacing

• Damage by brown plant hopper, Chickpea pod borer, and Whitefly, is higher in the closely planted crops.

o. Trap Cropping

p. Intercropping

• Tomato intercropped with cabbage has been reported to inhibit or reduce egg laying by Diamond Black Moth.