In the 1970s, Integrated Pest Management was developed to control various pests specifically for agricultural use. It was later adopted to serve in structural and urban pest management. Although IPM represents a specific strategy, it is often used more loosely to describe modern trends that promote measures other than pesticides. Unfortunately, the concept has been and continues to be misunderstood and not adopted widely enough. One term that embodies the philosophy behind Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is Assessment-based Pest Management (APM) which Dr. Dini Miller of Virginia Tech coined.

Assessment-based pest management emphasizes the importance of evaluating the intensity of the pest problem and related conducive conditions before treatment is attempted. At the beginning of an APM program, you must communicate the proper expectations to your customer. You need to communicate clearly to your customer that this will not be a quick fix and that there will be effective control of the pest issues with the appropriate cooperation.

A recent study evaluated an Assessment-based Pest Management program to manage German cockroach populations in public housing in the U.S. APM uses overnight cockroach trap counts to determine the correct amount of gel bait needed for each treatment. The test units were treated for 15 months, and cockroach populations typically decreased by 90%. This study was an excellent example of how APM has been a better approach to managing pests in most urban environments.

Here at The Pest Posse, we not only support the use of Assessment-based Pest Management but also teach it in our Pest Posse Academy courses. To understand the steps of APM, we offer a free guide that provides the steps of an APM program that can be adapted to any pest situation a PMP may encounter. This guide is just the beginning of understanding APM. We encourage you to sign up for the Pest Posse Academy Professional Training Solution, which will provide more details on APM and an excellent course on APM vs. IPM.