Crop pests and integrated pest control
Compare pest feeding groups and their life cycles, then evaluate chemical, biological, biotechnical and cultural controls.
Exam scope and assessment notes
Use this original lesson for the listed 2026, 2027–2028 and 2029–2031 Cambridge syllabus cycles. This route maps Cambridge's 2026 Version 2, 2027–2028 Version 1 and 2029–2031 Version 1 syllabuses. The 2026 update changes only a weblink; Cambridge reports no significant teaching changes for the 2027–2028 or 2029–2031 cycles. Exams are in the November series, and the qualification is not available in every administrative zone; confirm entry with your centre. Centre-selected local crop, weed, pest, disease and livestock examples must be checked against local agriculture. StudyForA does not replace supervised, risk-assessed practical work, the four assessed practical exercises, the individual practical investigation/report, teacher assessment or Cambridge moderation. Online practice is not an official mark or grade.
Before you begin
- Read the syllabus that matches your exam year and confirm your centre can enter you for code 0600. This route maps Cambridge's 2026 Version 2, 2027–2028 Version 1 and 2029–2031 Version 1 syllabuses. The 2026 update changes only a weblink; Cambridge reports no significant teaching changes for the 2027–2028 or 2029–2031 cycles. Exams are in the November series, and the qualification is not available in every administrative zone; confirm entry with your centre. Centre-selected local crop, weed, pest, disease and livestock examples must be checked against local agriculture. StudyForA does not replace supervised, risk-assessed practical work, the four assessed practical exercises, the individual practical investigation/report, teacher assessment or Cambridge moderation. Online practice is not an official mark or grade.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
How does a systemic pesticide differ from a contact pesticide?
What you will learn
- Describe one pest from biting and chewing, piercing and sucking, and boring groups.
- Explain contact and systemic pesticide action and appropriate use.
- Compare biological, biotechnical and cultural methods including rotation and catch cropping.
Recognise feeding groups and life cycles
Biting and chewing pests such as grasshoppers remove leaf or stem tissue; aphids pierce plant tissues and suck sap, and may transmit disease; boring larvae such as stalk borers feed within stems. The crop and pest species determine the damage.
A complete life cycle may include egg, juvenile stages and adult; the damaging stage can differ from the mobile or egg-laying stage. Record life stage, crop part damaged, symptoms and how the pest moves between plants or fields.
Compare pest-control approaches
Contact pesticides act on pests reached by the spray or treated surface; systemic pesticides are taken up and move within the plant. Appropriate use depends on pest, crop, label, timing, resistance, beneficial organisms and local law.
Biological control uses natural enemies or pathogens; biotechnical control disrupts pest behaviour or reproduction, for example through traps or pheromone methods. Cultural control changes farm practices: rotation and catch cropping can interrupt a pest's access to a preferred host.
Use integrated pest management
Monitor before acting, identify the pest, assess damage and consider action thresholds where local guidance provides them. A control that harms pollinators or natural enemies may create later problems.
Use chemical controls only as a trained, supervised, label-compliant decision. This lesson is conceptual and is not pesticide application instruction.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
How does a systemic pesticide differ from a contact pesticide?
Worked example
A crop has leaf feeding, curled leaves with sap-sucking insects and holes in stems. Explain why one control may not manage all three problems.
Show the worked solution
- The symptoms suggest different feeding groups and possibly different pest species or stages.
- A control effective on exposed chewing insects may not reach insects inside stems or address a sap-sucking vector.
- Identify each pest and stage, then select locally approved integrated controls with qualified advice.
Answer Different pests occupy different plant parts and stages. Identification must precede selection; a single control may miss some pests or harm beneficial organisms.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
For a hypothetical maize field, compare a stalk-boring pest with an aphid infestation and identify evidence needed before control.
Give me a hint
Compare where each feeds and how symptoms may appear.
Compare my reasoning
- Inspect stems for internal feeding and confirm a borer life stage rather than inferring from holes alone.
- Inspect leaves and shoots for colonies of sap-feeding aphids and possible disease symptoms.
- Record prevalence and crop stage, then ask local specialists about integrated and approved controls.
A stalk borer feeds inside plant tissue, while aphids feed on sap at exposed sites. The farmer should identify species and stage and seek local control advice.
Look for these in your work
- Feeding sites compared
- Evidence required
- Control decision is local
Explain how crop rotation and catch cropping can interrupt pest populations and state one condition that affects success.
Give me a hint
Consider host availability and the pest's survival range.
Compare my reasoning
- Rotation replaces a host crop with a different crop, reducing access for pests that depend on the original host.
- A catch crop can attract a pest away from the main crop or help manage its timing, depending on the system.
- Success depends on pest host range, survival stages, neighbouring crops and the chosen crop sequence.
These cultural practices can disrupt host availability, but they work only when they match the pest's biology and local cropping pattern.
Look for these in your work
- Both methods described
- Host link explained
- Limitation included
A farm wants to release a biological control organism to manage a pest. Identify three checks before any release.
Give me a hint
Consider target specificity, local ecology, regulation and evidence.
Compare my reasoning
- Confirm the pest identity and the proposed control organism's target range.
- Assess effects on native or beneficial species and whether the organism can become invasive.
- Obtain regulatory approval and specialist advice; do not release organisms based on a general web recommendation.
Biological control can affect non-target species and ecosystems. Identification, risk assessment and legal approval by specialists are essential.
Look for these in your work
- Target identified
- Non-target risk considered
- Regulation and expertise included
Common mistakes
- Assuming an insecticide controls every pest stage equally
- Calling all holes in a plant proof of a borer
- Using biological control without identifying the target organism
- Applying pesticides without the label or protective controls
What can you explain now?
How does a systemic pesticide differ from a contact pesticide?
Compare with the explanation
A systemic pesticide is taken up and moves within the plant
This is the syllabus distinction.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Distinguish three pest-feeding groups and explain one cultural or biological control method.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.