Environmentally friendly pest control is not new. It is where pest control began. Ancient man tried to control pests even before agriculture. After agriculture began the fight escalated. Remember that there were no pesticides to rely on thousands of years ago. Back then motivation was not a problem as a single crop failure could sometimes bring 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
Farmers learned that burning their fields after the harvest was effective in destroying insect breeding grounds. Some records as old as 30 centuries ago document the use of burning for pest control purposes. The ancient pest control technique of using fire to control pests is still used today.
Burning of fields after the harvest interrupts the lifecycle of pests and decreased the number of their offspring. Ancient cultures also observed that rotating crops was an effective pest control technique for preventing pests from getting a foothold in an area. Pythagoras in ancient Greece was credited for eliminating malaria from a town by disrupting the lifecycle of mosquitoes. Stagnant water was pumped out of a nearby swamp which reduced the spread of the disease.
The Chinese especially became adept at pest control using beneficial species. For example, 3200 years ago ancient Chinese texts note the use of predatory ants to protect citrus groves from caterpillars and wood boring beetles. Later on officials prohibited the removal of eggs and the hunting of both frogs and birds as these species consume vast numbers of insects. Praying mantis was released in gardens among the chrysanthemums to devour leaf-eating insects.
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.