Trap Crop & Lure the Pests Off the Main Crop
Lures aphids
Enter total field area, trap-crop percentage and field perimeter to get the trap crop area, main net area and border-strip width — to lay out a trap crop for IPM.
Enter your field
Next: plant ~324 m² as a border (~1.3 m wide) a little before the main crop, scout it, and spot-spray or destroy infested trap plants.
Trap-crop species and ratio depend on the pest and main crop; sow the trap crop earlier so it's attractive when pests arrive, and act before they move to the main crop.
Trap cropping — key facts
- Trap area
- total area × trap %
- Main net area
- total − trap area
- Strip width
- trap area ÷ perimeter
- Typical share
- ≈ 5–10% of field
- Examples
- marigold/tomato, mustard/cabbage
- Sow trap
- a bit earlier than main
- Manage
- scout, spot-spray, destroy
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing uploaded
A small border that draws the pests away
Trap cropping is one of the smartest IPM tactics: grow a plant the pest prefers — marigold around tomato, mustard around cabbage — as a border or strip, and the pests concentrate there instead of on your cash crop. That lets you control them on a small area with spot-spraying or by destroying infested trap plants, slashing pesticide use across the field. The key is giving the trap crop the right share of land and laying it out where pests enter.
This tool gives the trap crop area, main net area, border-strip width and trap share from your total area, trap percentage and field perimeter, in your chosen units. Sow the trap crop a little earlier so it's attractive when pests arrive, scout it closely since it concentrates the pest load, and spot-spray or pull badly infested trap plants. Pair it with the Sticky, Pheromone, Economic Threshold and Biological Control tools for a full IPM plan.
Give it the right share
Set the trap percentage and see the area.
Lay out the strip
Border-strip width from area and perimeter.
Keep the main crop
See the net area left for your cash crop.
Cut spraying
Concentrate pests for spot control.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the trap crop area calculated?+
Trap crop area = total field area × trap percentage. Main net area = total − trap area. A border-strip width estimate comes from trap area ÷ field perimeter, telling you how wide a strip around the field that trap area makes. The tool runs all three so you can lay out the trap crop before sowing.
What is a trap crop?+
A trap crop is a more-attractive plant grown alongside or around the main crop to lure pests away from it. Pests prefer the trap crop, concentrate on it, and can then be controlled there — protecting the main crop with far less spraying. It's a core tactic in integrated pest management (IPM).
What are common trap crop examples?+
Marigold around tomato (for nematodes and fruit borer), mustard around cabbage (for diamondback moth and aphids), and many others where a preferred host draws the pest. The right trap depends on the pest and main crop pairing — choose a plant the target pest prefers over your cash crop.
What percentage of the field should be trap crop?+
Commonly a small share — often around 5–10% of the field as a border or strips — is enough to draw pests while keeping most land in the main crop. The exact figure depends on pest pressure and the crops involved. The tool lets you test any percentage and see the area trade-off instantly.
What is the border-strip width for?+
It estimates how wide a strip the trap crop makes if grown as a band around the field edge — trap area divided by the field perimeter. That helps you lay out rows and plan the planter or transplanting at the border, so the trap forms a continuous, effective barrier rather than scattered patches.
Why sow the trap crop earlier?+
The trap crop must be attractive — flowering or at a preferred stage — when pests arrive, which is usually before or as the main crop becomes vulnerable. Sowing it a couple of weeks earlier ensures it's the more tempting host at the critical moment, so pests settle on it rather than the cash crop.
How do I manage the trap crop during the season?+
Scout the trap crop regularly, since it concentrates the pests. When infestation builds, spot-spray only the trap rows or physically destroy badly infested trap plants to kill the pest load — far less pesticide than treating the whole field, and it stops the trap from becoming a pest reservoir.
Does trap cropping reduce pesticide use?+
Yes — by concentrating pests on a small border area you spray a fraction of the field instead of the whole crop, cutting cost, residues and harm to beneficial insects. Combined with monitoring and thresholds, trap cropping is one of the most practical IPM tactics for many vegetable and field crops.
Does this work for any area unit?+
Yes — enter total field area and perimeter in acres, hectares, bigha, guntha or metres, and the tool returns trap and main areas plus strip width in matching units. The percentage-and-perimeter approach applies to any field, crop pairing or region.
Are the results exact?+
They're planning figures. Effective trap-crop ratio and width vary with the pest, the crop pairing, field shape and pest pressure. Use the tool to lay out the trap crop, then adapt from scouting — widen the strip or raise the percentage if the trap saturates, and confirm the pairing with local IPM advice.