Since the pesticide payoff is unpredictable, people are looking for better ways to control pests. Sometimes they bring in natural enemies to eat the pests. Wasps, for example, were used to destroy walnut aphids that once threatened California's walnut groves. Other pest-controlling insects have been used on sugar cane in Hawaii, grain in Michigan, apples in New York and oranges in Florida. Other methods also help.
Careful breeding produces strong plants that resist pests.
Artificial sex smells lure pests in sticky traps. Radiation or hormone treatments stop pest reproduction. Early harvesting bypasses some pest life cycles completely. With integrated pest management, pesticides will still be used, but more carefully and less often. It is dangerous and it is against the law for children to use pesticides.