Insect management: An economic-ecological system approach
Abstract
The thesis deals with optimal insect management under the chemical control method. Basically, there are two major contributions. First, the concepts of Headley's (1972) and Hall and Norgaard's (1973, 1974) "Economic Threshold" in pest control were generalized by using an optimal control theorem. The thesis provides an optimal control rule which can be used to determine the optimal spray dosages of insecticides and spraying times for insect control. Second, it presents a new methodology called "deterministic vibration method" to identify the nonlinear differential systems for fluctuating insect populations. By combining the concepts of time series, econometrics, and engineering study of vibration, the thesis offers an elegant and easy enough method to handle the identification problem. Finally, general recommendations for controlling the Mexican bean beetle in Indiana soybean production are developed through numerical simulations.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Loehman, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Agricultural economics|Entomology|Ecology
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