Alternatives to Methyl Bromide; IPM in three typical danish flour mills 2. Materials and methods2.1 Contents of the project The project has been carried out between the Danish Pest Infestation Laboratory, the mills and their pest control operators (PCOs). The work has primarily taken place in the form of discussion meetings and investigations in the mills. Most of the work has been concentrated on a description of the actual system and discussions on the actual possibilities of improving the systems in the mills. Another aspect of the work has been a discussion of relevant methods for determining the level of pest control, which could be used in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the IPM system. On one hand the mills have a clear impression of resources used in pest control, but on the other hand an analytical tool which could be used to express the value of increased efforts in pest control does not exist. In 1998 the relationship between the Danish mills and their PCOs has been problematic, due to sale of companies etc. This has had the consequence that for the most part the PCO work at the mills has consisted of trap inspections only. This unacceptable situation was first solved during 1998. This, together with the actual length of the project (5 months) limited the content. Therefore relevant investigation of new methods in the actual IPM programs was not possible. The project has dealt with the insect pest control situation in three Danish flour mills, which were considered representative of Danish mills. The project analysed the situation , and recommendations were made on improvements of the actual IPM systems. Further, education of the staff is a recommended element of IPM, and therefore short courses in IPM were carried out in each of the mills.
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