Editing Insecticide (section)

== Alternatives ==
Instead of using chemical insecticides to avoid crop damage caused by insects, there are many alternative options available now that can protect farmers from major economic losses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aidley |first=David |date=Summer 1976 |title=Alternatives to insecticides |journal=Science Progress |volume=63 |issue=250 |pages=293–303 |jstor=43420363 |pmid=1064167 }}</ref> Some of them are:

# [[Plant breeding|Breeding]] crops resistant, or at least less susceptible, to pest attacks.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Plant Breeding for Pest and Disease Resistance|last=Russell|first=GE|publisher=Elsevier|year=1978|isbn=978-0-408-10613-9}}</ref>
# Releasing [[Predation|predators]], [[parasitoid]]s, or [[pathogen]]s to control pest populations as a form of [[Biological pest control|biological control]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74140.html|title=Biological Control and Natural Enemies of Invertebrates Management Guidelines--UC IPM|website=ipm.ucanr.edu|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref>
# Chemical control like releasing [[pheromone]]s into the field to confuse the insects into not being able to find mates and reproduce.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu/opm/displaySpecies.php?pn=-80|title=Mating Disruption|website=jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu|access-date=2018-12-12|archive-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612165450/http://jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu/opm/displaySpecies.php?pn=-80|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# [[Integrated pest management|Integrated Pest Management]]: using multiple techniques in tandem to achieve optimal results.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nysipm.cornell.edu/about/defining-ipm/|title=Defining IPM {{!}} New York State Integrated Pest Management|website=nysipm.cornell.edu|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref>
# [[Push–pull agricultural pest management|Push-pull technique]]: intercropping with a "push" crop that repels the pest, and planting a "pull" crop on the boundary that attracts and traps it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Samantha M.|last2=Khan|first2=Zeyaur R.|last3=Pickett|first3=John A.|date=2007|title=The use of push-pull strategies in integrated pest management|journal=Annual Review of Entomology|volume=52|pages=375–400|doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091407|issn=0066-4170|pmid=16968206}}</ref>