According to the Wikipedia definition, Pest Control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest. Pests are usually determined on the basis of the damage they do to crops, the environment or to human health. Pest control has been around for as long as crop cultivation has been done. Chemical pest control is the most common method of regulating and checking various agricultural pests.
There are different methods of pest control. Biological pest control involves regulating the numbers of pests by promoting or restricting their natural predators and parasites. The point of biological pest control is to regulate pests without damaging the environment unduly. One common example of biological pest control is the introduction of Bt Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis into water bodies where mosquitoes breed. This bacterium kills the larvae without poisoning the water.
Another effective mode of pest control is the removal of breeding grounds. Garbage dumps, stagnant water bodies, open sewers, are all conducive to the multiplying of pests. Draining the stagnant water and efficient management of wastes are very helpful in pest control in the long term.
Use of poisoned baits to catch and control pests is also common. As is the burning of fields which kills any pests left in the cultivation land after the crop is harvested. In earlier times, pack dogs were used to hunt out pests like rats. Traps too are set to control pests around houses and offices.
Among the chemical methods of pest control, there are poison spray machines like small planes or trucks that can work on large areas in a short span of time. Crop dusters with poison spray fly over fields to help control pests.
More expensive but effective methods include space fumigation, which involves sealing off a place entirely and introducing a lethal gas into it that kills all pests. There are also misting devices that disperse liquid pesticides into the atmosphere that kills pests without stopping work on the fields.
