What is the primary goal of pest management?

The primary goal of pest management is to manage pest populations at acceptable levels. This approach acknowledges that while complete elimination of all pests is often unrealistic and unnecessary, particularly in ecological contexts, it is critical to control pest populations to mitigate their negative effects on human health, property, and agricultural production.

Effective pest management often seeks a balance between maintaining a healthy environment and ensuring that pest populations do not reach levels that could cause harm or economic loss. Rather than pursuing total eradication, which could disrupt ecosystems and may not be achievable, the focus is on monitoring, prevention, and control strategies that keep pest populations within thresholds that are manageable and acceptable.

The alternative choices do not embody the most practical or sustainable approach to pest management. For instance, completely avoiding pesticide use is not feasible in many scenarios where pest populations must be controlled. Similarly, enhancing pest growth contradicts the very purpose of pest management.