CERES owner Chris Ennis says IPM produce is selling 60:40 to organic produce among his green customer base. Source: Supplied
Cost-prohibitive organic food is being disrupted by an increasingly popular type of farming called integrated pest management (IPM) where natural pest killers like ladybirds and lacewings scour fruit and vegetable crops to create what advocates say is more affordable and more accessible healthy food.
The difference between organic and IPM, broccoli farmer Stuart Grigg tells SmartCompany, is that organic farming relies on only natural remedies, whereas IPM farming uses organic principles and adopts a “strategic use” of pesticides when necessary — the best of both worlds, he says.
As an IPM farmer, he only uses crop protectants when pest numbers threaten the overall health of a crop and the natural system can’t keep up, choosing low-impact products “which are as safe as possible on beneficial insects residing in the crop”.
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