IPM is not a list of treatments. It is a decision process. Before adding another intervention, ask five questions.
1. What is the actual problem?
Confirm the pest or disease, the crop stage, the severity and the distribution. A correct intervention applied to the wrong problem is still a poor decision.
2. What is the economic or operational threshold?
Not every detection justifies treatment. The important question is whether the expected damage, risk or quality impact warrants action.
3. Which preventive and biological options are already available?
Evaluate cultural controls, exclusion, sanitation, biological control and monitoring before defaulting to another chemical intervention.
4. How compatible are the options?
An intervention can solve one problem while undermining beneficial organisms, resistance management or future treatment options. Compatibility matters.
5. How will success be measured?
Define what will be monitored after implementation and how the result will change the next decision.