A theoretical approach to the “complementation” notion concerning strategies of crop protection
In this text, the question is raised about the meaning of “integrated methods of control” in crop protection, and the wording one may use to describe and to evaluate the rationale of this integration. The term “complementarity”, instead of which we propose “complementation” as a more general term, is more often used in the literature and covers many facets. That term may here and there be used to signify “complement”, in the narrow sense of the word, or “additivity”, “compatibility”, or “suppletivity”. For each of these terms we are proposing a functional definition including a few examples of application, for the most part taken from the field of plant disease epidemiology. Methods of control “complement” each other when their combined application is based on, or results in, “complementary” benefits, i.e., having a positive output in terms of means or results. The reasoning for distinguishing and defining different types of “complementation” are related to consequences, nature, and even to the basis for combining the methods.