Modeling and Simulation in Agricultural Pest Management

Abstract

This paper introduces some of the mathematical problems associated with the control of agricultural insect pests. The view advocated here is that since agricultural crops are managed biological systems, much of the applied mathematics developed for biological systems may be used in pest control. The problem is broken into three components (1) strategy selection, (2) tactics selection, and (3) state estimation. The concept of strategy selection is illustrated through a discussion of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) as a means of population suppression. Tactics selection is illustrated by a discussion of the scheduling of pesticide applications. The concept of state estimation is illustrated through two examples. The first example is a discussion of sequential sampling for pests to determine if the pest density has crossed an economic threshold. The second example is a discussion of information provided by trapping for pests when trying to determine the extent of an infestation.