Dr.

Habibur Rahman
Associate Professor, Dept. of ENT
Lecture 15: Economic threshold concept in pest management
The economic threshold concept
The economic threshold concept was originally introduced by Stern et al. in 1959. This
concept defined three categories relevant to decision making in pest management.
These were:
Economic damage (ED)- the amount of damage that justifies the cost of artificial control;

Economic injury level (EIL) is the population density of an organism at which the cost of its
control is less than the loss that would occur if the control measures were not taken.

Economic Threshold (ET) also called Action Threshold is the lowest level of population density
when action is to be taken to prevent an increasing pest population from reaching the EIL.

Since economic threshold is used as a general term encompassing all three definitions of ED,
EIL and ET, the term action threshold (AT) is used instead of economic threshold (ET). The
term AT is also more appropriate since action is taken at this level.

Relationship between EIL and ET

(GRAPHICALLY REPRESENT RELASITONSHI)
 EIL is always greater than ET i.e., ET always lies below the EIL.
 Action is taken at ET to prevent the increasing pest population from reaching EIL.
 Not action is taken at levels below the ET.
 ET is based on the EIL and is set below the EIL.
 If EIL is 5 insects/plant then ET is set at 4 insects/plant.

WHICH TIME POINT WE SHOULD START OUR CONTROL MEASURE?

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Utility of EIL and ET (WHY EIL AND ET MEASURE USE?)
EIL is used as measure to
 define the pest status of an organism and
 Make a decision regarding whether to take any action or not to take any action against
the pest.

Computation of EIL (ONLY FORMULA)

If some loss from insect is unavoidable, then the EIL can be computed as follows:
C
EIL = P = ---------------- = adult moth of rice stem borer/acre
Vx I x D x K
Here,
P = density of rice stem borer population (number of adults/acre)
C= Cost of management per unit area (Tk/acre)
V= Market value of rice from unit yield (Tk/Mds)
D= Damage per unit injury (Mds lost/acre/percent plant infestation)
I = Injury units per insect per production unit (percent plant infestation/insect/acre expressed
as a proportion)
K = Proportionate reduction in injury by management action (say 0.8 for 80%)

If 100% loss from insect can be avoided, then EIL is computed as follows:
C
EIL = P = ---------------- = adult moth of rice stem borer/acre
Vx I x D

Computation of ET
C
ET or AT = P = ---------------- = adult moth of rice stem borer/acre
VxDxK
Here,
C= Cost of management per unit area (Tk/acre)
V= Market value of rice from unit area (Tk/acre)
D= Proportionate damage/yield loss per individual insect (mds/acre/insect)
K = Proportionate reduction in injury by management action (say 0.8 for 80%)

Characteristics of ET and EIL

 The ET and EIL are not static;
 they vary as economic and biological conditions change.
 Factors that can influence these indices include:
 weather conditions,
 plant growth stage,
 nutritional health of the crop,
 presence of other pests,
 market value of the crop,
 expected yield of the crop, and
 the cost and effectiveness of the pest management alternative used.

Economic analysis of pest management (PRACTICAL)

The economic analysis or Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) can be calculated on the basis of total
expenditure of the management along with the total return.

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 Dr. Habibur Rahman
Associate Professor, Dept. of ENT
Management Cost: This is calculated by adding the costs incurred for management.
Gross Return: This is measured by multiplying the total yield by the unit price of product.
Net Return: Net return is calculated by subtracting management cost from gross return.
Adjusted Net Return: The adjusted net return is determined by subtracting the net return gained
from untreated control plot from the net return of manage plot.
BCR: BCR is calculated from adjusted net return divided by the total management cost.