Agricultural Management Greatly Affects the Beneficial Entomofauna of the Olive Groves | Biomed Grid

In the course of the last decades there has been a remarkable evolution in the agricultural practices carried out in olive growing, from a conventional management (CM), based on the systematic application of pesticides and lacking vegetal cover, to the Integrated pest Management (IPM), in which the application of pesticides is limited, being applied according to more rational criteria. In addition, an herbaceous vegetation cover is maintained in the olive grove, in order to limit soil erosion. Although they are of a minority nature, a lower proportion of olive groves are subject to Ecological Management (EM), in which pesticides are eliminated completely and the herbaceous vegetation cover is maintained, being only subject to scarce tillage operations. Here, the control of pests is exercised exclusively by beneficial fauna.