Integrated Pest Control (IPC) should be utilized in controlling the pests, diseases and weeds that affect oil palm farms. Integrated Pest Control achieves its goals by making use of manual methods, the natural enemies of oil palm pests and ecologically benign Insecticides. The IPC methods proposed here are consistent with Liberia regulation, which mandates that disease, pest and weed control be based on the results of monitoring. Wide spectrum insecticides that kill a broad array of organisms are used only in emergencies, when there is an outbreak, as a last resort when biological control or other more focused methods have become ineffective.

Future strategies and policies of control should meet the following requirements:

1. They can preserve the natural balance of predator and prey, thereby stabilizing the biological community.
2. Their use results in meeting goals relating to the quality and quantity of palm oil production.

Pest

There are several pests that attack mature and immature plants and have to be controlled such as: Leaf Eater Beetles, Anger Beetles, Root Pests, Grasshoppers, Termites, Fruit Borer Worms, Oil Palm Leaf Eater Worm, Rats, Squirrels, Pigs, and Elephants.

The main concepts of pests control carried out by Detection, Cencus and Manual Control, Preventive Measures, Field Control, Evaluation on the impact of the pest to the oil palm trees.

Insect pests such a leaf eating caterpillars rhinoceros beetles, cockchafers are best controlled biologically by natural enemies such as predators and parasites. Insecticides should only be used judiciously.

Disease

1. 1. Trunk Base Rot and Upper Stem Rot (Ganoderma Boninense)
      These are the main diseases of mature plants, replanted plants, and plants grown in areas that used to support oil palm farms. These diseases are caused by Ganoderma Boninense, a fungus of the Basidiomycetes class.In areas non-endemic to Ganoderma Boninense, which are almost always areas in which oil palms have never grown naturally or in cultivation, the incidence of trunk base rot (BPB) is very low, affecting only a small fraction of plants older than 10 years. However, as the number of oil palm increase in an area, and as the number of years of cultivation increase, the incidence of BPB increases and younger trees are affected. In 3rd generation farms, trunk base rot can be found in trees less than a year old.

      The proper measures depend on the age of the farm and whether production occurs inside areas endemic to Ganoderma.

      More specifically, recommendations vary depending on whether production is proposed for areas in which oil palms have never grown, naturally or under cultivation; or in areas in which oil palms used to be cultivated or continue to be cultivated. In the first case, pathogens keying on oil palms can be expected to be rare. In the second case, oil palm pathogens, especially Ganoderma, are much more likely to be encountered.

   2. Charcoal Base Rot (Ustulina Deusta)
      This is a disease attacking young mature plants – plants in transition from immature to mature plants. Symptoms include charcoal base rot on the trunk, a trunk that hardens and turns black, a fragile root, and ultimately a plant that falls down.The area attacked needs a special treatment using Trichoderma sp. Therefore, farms in which charcoal base rot has been iden lilied should contact GVL immediately for information on followed-up.
   3. Spear Rot
      This is a rot to the oil palm of immature and mature plants which starts from the leaf tips spreads to other fronds nearby. Severe cases result in death. It usually occurs in very humid areas or areas with puddles. Attacks are sporadic. Although the cause is not known with certainty, there is some evidence that Fusarium sp. (fungus) and Erwinia sp (bacterium) play a role.
   4. Bunch Rot (Marasmius Palmivorus)
      Marasmius palmivorus is the cause of bunch rot that stunts the growth of the bunch. This disease occurs when sanitation around the bunch is poor. It is usually found in the phase of young mature plants, but it can also attack the older phase if the sanitation is poor.

Weed
Weeds are vegetation that grows naturally and competes with cultivated plants, thereby reducing growth rates and yield of cultivated plants and complicating other agricultural activities. In oil palm areas, the major weeds include grasses, broad-leaved plants, woody plants, fems, wild banana trees, caladium, bamboo and aquatic macrophytes.

Weed Control Concepts within GVL plantation as follows:

1. 1. 1. Competitors with cultivated plants are managed by the following measures:
         • Developing/preserving plants that are useful as the host of parasitoid and/or predators but still under control (as long as they do not disturb the main plant and the cultivation process of oil palms).
         • Destroying noxious
         • Limiting the growth of soft weeds.
      2. Applying Integrated Weed Management by employing all control components including technical culture procedures and preventative, biological, mechanical, and chemical treatments.