Integrated pest management reduces chemical insecticide use and may reduce aggregate insect suffering compared to conventional pest control, though welfare implications are rarely considered explicitly.
Integrated pest management is primarily framed as an environmental and economic strategy, but as evidence for insect sentience grows, welfare implications deserve consideration. Conventional insecticides can cause prolonged suffering before death in insects. Some biological control methods — parasitoid wasps that lay eggs in living hosts — involve slow deaths. However, IPM substantially reduces the overall volume of pesticides applied and the number of non-target insects killed, which may represent a welfare improvement at scale even if individual insect experiences are uncertain. The uncertainty about insect sentience argues for a precautionary approach: preferring methods that minimise exposure and favour rapid over prolonged death when control is necessary.