Under IPM, when is chemical control used?

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Under IPM, chemical control is used only after monitoring shows pest levels exceed a useful threshold and non-chemical methods alone aren’t enough to bring populations under control. The approach relies on preventing problems and using cultural, mechanical, and biological methods first, aiming to keep pests at acceptable levels with the least environmental impact. When those measures fail to keep damage within tolerable limits, a targeted, carefully timed chemical treatment is applied to suppress the pest population to acceptable levels, ideally using the lowest effective dose and considering resistance and non-target effects.