Eco-friendly pest control is not new. In fact it is quite ancient. Early man fought insects even before agriculture. After the beginning of agriculture the fight turned into a war. Hundreds and thousands of years ago, there simply were no pesticides to fall back on. And the early farmers were seriously motivated. The failure of a single crop could bring the threat of starvation.

Those ancient farmers were quite observant and quick to emulate what they saw in nature. That does not mean they always got it right, but they tried. Various eco-friendly pest control tactics have been mentioned in the writings of ancient China, Sumeria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. While some of these tactics were rooted in religion or superstition, some had lasting scientific value. Those are the ones we still use today.

Pest control techniques used by early farmers included: Using other critters such as frogs, birds and even other bugs help control pests Using sanitation and rotating crops to help control pests Using traps, baits and even fire to burn crops after harvest Using pest resistant plants

Many cultures burned the remains of a crop after harvest to kill insects, larva and eggs as well as weed seeds. This pest control technique is mentioned by the ancient Chinese nearly 3000 years ago and by the Roman Virgil, 1000 years later. Even today some farmers still burn their crop residue although climate change concerns may change that.

Burning crop residue was only one of several pest control techniques to disrupt the life cycle of pests. Crop rotation was another technique first used in ancient China to prevent pest populations from rapidly reproducing. In the 6th century BC, the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras was given credit for eliminating malaria from a town by asking residents to drain the nearby swamps.

The use of beneficial insects for pest control was utilized very successfully by the Chinese. Using a variety of insects such as ants and beetles they were able to eliminate the larva of many pests. Also using the veracious appetites of birds for eating insects they introduced species in and around farms. Among the more famous control insects is the praying mantis which seemed quite adept at consuming insects which fed off of leaves.

In Europe the invention of traps as physical pest control began with Dr. Bruckmann in the 16th century, who built the first fly trap. It was a simple wooden box with a spring loaded top designed to trap flies. The insects were lured into the box by sweet bait. He also created flea traps designed to be worn around the neck. They proved popular with the aristocracy at the time.

Effective and environmentally friendly pest control methods have been slowly perfected over thousands of years. These techniques survived because they worked, they were not expensive and were quite safe. Today the environmentally friendly techniques used to control pests and protect crops are known as Integrated Pest Management. They are the future of pest control.