Not all possible questions regarding management practices in each category were asked. These percentages are published at the U.S. and regional level. For a specific crop, the percentages refer only to the farms and acres on which that crop is grown. If the percentage is less than one percent or there were too few reports to publish the percentage, an asterisk or double asterisk was used in the table. A blank indicates there were no reports of the practice being used.
Prevention is the practice of keeping a pest population from infesting a crop or field.
It includes such tactics as using pest-free seeds and transplants, preventing weeds from reproducing, choosing cultivars with genetic resistance to insects or disease, irrigation scheduling to avoid situations conducive to disease development, cleaning tillage and harvesting equipment between fields or operations, using field sanitation procedures, and eliminating alternate hosts or sites for insect pests and disease organisms. Avoidance may be practiced when pest populations exist in a field or site but the impact of the pest on the crop can be avoided through some cultural practice. Examples of avoidance tactics include crop rotation such that the crop of choice is not a host for the pest, choosing cultivars with genetic resistance to pests, using trap crops, choosing cultivars with maturity dates that may allow harvest before pest populations develop, fertilization programs to promote rapid crop development, and simply not planting certain areas of fields where pest populations are likely to cause crop failure. Some tactics for prevention and avoidance strategies may overlap. Monitoring includes proper identification of pests through surveys or scouting programs, including trapping, weather monitoring, and soil testing where appropriate.