Less hazardous commercial pest control

An American company, Praxis, based in Allegan, Minnesota is marketing treatment packages for the control of pests in agriculture, horticulture, human environments, animal husbandry and industry which are based mostly on biological control agents and strategies. Using a tailored combination of natural predators, microbial agents, and physical and environmental controls, the company claims success in the control of cockroaches, mice, wasps, gypsy moths in schools, urban forest and other municipal facilities as well as controlling Colorado beetle and Mexican bean beetle infestations in agriculture.

      The radical approach involves the provision of a complete pest control programme.  They refuse to sell individual pest control products since they firmly believe that individual products cannot work in isolation. An integrated approach is essential for success. Praxis tailors packages of products and strategies for each client depending on the pests which are present and taking into consideration environmental factors.

       Their integrated approach may entail releasing predators which attack  different life stages of an insect pest, or using environmental controls in combination with direct pest control agents against one or more pests. For example, when Praxis set out to control cockroaches in a school their first requirement was a blueprint of the building in order to understand the potential movement and habitats of the pests. They then applied a combination of traps, inorganic products such as boric acid and diatomaceous dust, biological agents such as nematodes and parasitic wasps and bacteria which consumed products on which cockroaches fed. In agricultural situations, Praxis uses several predators and bacterial agents to control the different stages of a single pest. A key element of their approach is an understanding of the ecology of the pest, and the aim of their control systems is to bring pest populations down to manageable levels rather than eradicate them.

Praxis, 27-23 116th Avenue, Allegan, MI 49010, US. Tel +1 616 673 2393.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 22, December 1993, page 19]