Lesson 2: Identifying Risk Management Options
Topic 4: Treatments
This topic, you will introduce you to treatments as a common management practice.
Objectives:
- Be able to describe phytosanitary treatments.
- Be able to identify types of common treatments.
Treatments
Phytosanitary treatments are mitigation measures to reduce the prevalence or viability of pests by exposing them to harm. Whether the treatment is physical or chemical, the primary aim is to cause a specific effect on the pest while minimizing damage to the commodity and the environment. Pest mortality is the most common desired outcome of a treatment. However, depending on the treatment, there is a wide range of other potential outcomes:
- Removal (pest is physically removed, for example, by culling)
- Sterility (pest lives but cannot reproduce)
- Prevention of development (pest cannot complete its life cycle; for example, no sprouting in a plant or adult emergence of an insect)
- Weakening (pest loses vitality)
- Devitalization (pest plant is incapable of germination, growth, or further reproduction)
- Inactivation (pest microorganism cannot develop)
In the past, typically a single, high-mortality treatment was administered before export or immediately upon entry. In recent years, combination treatments, low-dose treatments, non-mortality treatments, and treatments as part of a systems approach have become more common. Now, there are many more options to consider.
Types of Treatment Options
Treatments can be either chemical or non-chemical. Chemical treatments include fumigants (such as methyl bromide), aerosols, smokes, mists, fogs, micronized dusts, dips, granules, and sprays. Non-chemical treatments include heat (water dips, hot air, vapor, drying), cold, irradiation, and controlled atmosphere. Some examples of common phytosanitary treatments are described below:
Ideally, treatments should be highly effective on the targeted pests, non-toxic to plants and animals, easily and economically applied, precisely delivered, safe (e.g., not explosive or flammable), non-persistent, and environmentally neutral. Unfortunately, there are currently no treatments that meet this ideal. It is important to recognize that each option has trade-offs. When considering treatment options, keep the following in mind:
- Type of pest and risk
- Efficacy of treatment
- Whether the treatment is practical, available, and well documented in research and practice
- Characteristics of the commodity to be treated
- Any adverse effects, such as damage to plants
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