Since the 1970s, researchers and farmers have sought to develop
safer,
more ecologically sound ways to manage pests.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) draws from a variety of disciplines and uses a diversity of production methods, ranging from reinforcing a pest's natural enemies to disrupting a pest's life cycle to careful weather monitoring. Pest management strategies that rely on interventions of the biology of the pest can effectively minimize pest damage while avoiding chemical pesticides. However, IPM still relies on some synthetic pesticides, but generally only after other techniques have been used.