Percepção dos agricultores ao manejo integrado de pragas na cultura da soja na região de Laranjeiras do Sul

Abstract

The present work aimed to understand the way in which farmers make the decision to control pests, evaluating the influence of Integrated Pest Management, and how MIP techniques can contribute to control decision-making aiming to reduce the number of pesticide applications in soybean crops in the municipalities of Laranjeiras do Sul, Porto Barreiro, Rio Bonito do Iguaçu and Nova Laranjeiras. The data on the characterization of the profile and knowledge of soybean producers about integrated pest management were obtained from the self-completion of a semi-structured questionnaire with 30 questions that cover two basic sets of questions, produced with the help of the Google Forms tool, being distributed to some producers by via a shared link via the WhatsApp communication app. The first presents questions related to the profile of the interviewees (education, association with a cooperative, job category, time in agricultural activity and working with soy, and whether they receive technical assistance). In the second, the questions address aspects related to insect pests and IPM (main pests and their monitoring, control methods, knowledge about natural enemies and conservation of these control agents, use of insecticides and aspects related to access to information on these topics). The questions serve as a guide, facilitating communication between the interviewer and the interviewees, enabling objective answers and a more accurate diagnosis. According to the work carried out, the interviewed farmers are aware of the MIP techniques, use field sampling for monitoring and, later, for decision making in their fields. Although the chemical method is the most commonly used, the frequency of applications throughout the soybean cycle is relatively low compared to conventional methods that do not use IPM. In this way, biological control can be an important ally in the fight against insect pests and become the main method of control, and only as a last alternative the chemical method (insecticide). Thus, the natural enemies end up standing out and doing the population control of the pests, causing the ecological balance of the agroecosystem.