Climate change has intensified in recent decades, which has affected crop production as well as facilitated the emergence of new diseases and insect pests, causing serious threats to agriculture. Farmers have mostly taken a crop-based approach to insect pest management (IPM); the authors of this new volume, however, take the unique approach that IPM based on specific cropping systems is more efficient, resulting in reduced cultivation costs, increased yield and profitability, and decreased residue from crop produce and products. This volume presents the results of research done by crop protection scientists on integrated pest management in diverse cropping systems based on rice, wheat, maize, pulses, food legumes, oilseeds, groundnut, potato, and other horticulture crops. With chapters written by well-known and experienced scientists in their fields, this volume provides in-depth knowledge on integrated pest management in conjunction with an array of specific cropping systems, taking into consideration all the elements, including the crops, crop sequences, spatial and temporal aspects of managing an agricultural system, and other aspects. This volume will be valuable for entomologists, plant pathologists, and agronomists, as well as for farmers—both small and industrial sized, agricultural extension centers, faculty and students, and many others involved with crop cultivation.

This important book provides a practical guide to the principles and practice of developing an integrated pest management (IPM) programme. Integrated Pest Management answers the question `how do you devise, develop and implement a practical IPM system which will fully meet the real needs of farmers?'. The term `pest' in this book is used in its broadest sense and includes insects, pathogens, weeds, nematodes, etc. The book commences by outlining the basic principles which underlie pest control (crop husbandry, socio-economics, population ecology and population genetics) and reviews the control mesures available and their use in IPM systems. Subsequent chapters cover the techniques and approaches used in defining a pest problem, programme planning and management, systems analysis, experimental paradigms and implementation of IPM systems. The final seciton of the book contains four chapters giving examples of IPM in different cropping systems, contributed by invited specialists and outlining four different perspectives. Integrated Pest Management will be of great use to agricultural and plant scientists, entomologists, aracologists and nematologists and all those studying crop protection, particularly at MSc level and above. It will be particularly useful for, and should find a place on the shelves of all personnel within the agrochemical industry, universities and research establishments working in this subject area and as a reference in libraries for students and professionals alike.

As agricultural intensification continues in the United States there is a need for developing and using sustainable practices that maintain productive yields while also protecting the environment. For my first chapter, I compared two crop rotations, one representative of a diverse dairy rotation typical of the Mid-Atlantic United States. More specifically, over two field seasons, I compared a 2-yr low plant diversity, preemptive pest control rotation to two, 6-yr high plant diversity, integrated pest management (IPM) rotations and how these different rotations influenced pest and predator populations, with a focus on slugs and their ground beetle predators. Overall, I found that in many cases increasing plant diversity within rotations and decreasing insecticide use suppressed pest populations and fostered higher predator populations. In 2017, the maize grown for grain in the high-diversity, IPM rotation produced higher yields than the low-diversity, preemptive pest control rotation. Also, in 2017, soybean yields were equal between these rotations. My results suggest that increasing plant diversity within cropping rotations and using integrated pest management with reduced insecticides can be an effective means for controlling pests to remain below economically damaging levels.Because of my interest in reducing insecticide use in Chapter One, I wanted to explore possible negative consequences of one of the preventative insecticides used in the low-diversity, high insecticide input rotation: the neonicotinoid insecticides. For Chapter Two, I examined the potential for these insecticides to be transported from agricultural fields to nearby aquatic environments. These highly water-soluble insecticides, used as seed coatings, are translocated throughout growing seedlings, but very little of the active ingredient applied to seeds is actually taken up by the growing seedling. The majority of the active ingredient is then retained in soil, where it is susceptible to transport via surface runoff, leaching to groundwater, biodegradation, sorption to soil, and drift as planting dust. Because neonicotinoids are highly water-soluble, they have a high potential to impact water quality and pose a risk to aquatic ecosystems, making it critical to understand how neonicotinoids leave crop fields in water and at what concentrations. To determine these concentrations of active ingredient applied to seed coatings leaving the crop field in water, I used field lysimeter plots to collect surface and subsurface water runoff from corn fields planted with seeds coated with the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam. Samples were then analyzed for concentrations of thiamethoxam and its degradant clothianidin using HPLC/MSMS-Orbitrap. These concentrations paired with water flow data provide the mass loss of active ingredient that occurs with each runoff event. After collecting surface and subsurface runoff, I found that 1.3% of thiamethoxam and its metabolite clothianidin are lost to the surrounding aquatic environment where it could have negative unintended consequences.

Explore the latest research on biological control! Completely updated for 2004, this new edition examines methods for making agricultural systems less susceptible to insect pests. Containing new findings and reports of strategies, Biodiversity and Pest Management in Agroecosystems, Second Edition will show you how pests can be managed by enhancing beneficial biodiversity using agroecological diversification methods. Biodiversity and Pest Management in Agroecosystems, Second Edition provides you with an essential overview of the role of biodiversity in agriculture and then gets specific, with new and updated information on: the agroecology of pest management plant diversity and pest outbreaks within agroecosystems diversification strategies for pest management how sustainable farming systems are designed You'll also explore: the role of plant diversity on the biology of beneficial insects insect regulation in diverse agroecosystems manipulation of plant diversity in agroecosystems ecological and socioeconomic implications The fact is, many modern agroecosystems are unstable as a consequence of constant human intervention in crop systems which ignore ecological principles. With case studies on a variety of crops and pests, Biodiversity and Pest Management in Agroecosystems, Second Edition explores entomological aspects of agriculture and analyzes the ecological basis for the maintenance of biodiversity. It will familiarize you with the theory and practice of enhancing biological pest control in agricultural systems by managing vegetational diversity via multiple cropping, cover cropping, rotations, and other spatial and temporal designs. With studies on intercropping, cover cropping, weed management, and crop-field border vegetation manipulation, this book covers the effects of these diverse systems on pest population density and the mechanisms underlying pest reduction in polycultures. Make it a part of your reference/teaching collection today!

Consumers in the EU and beyond are increasingly concerned about the impact of pesticides on the environment and human health. In the context of EU phytosanitary and environmental policies, the common EU challenge is to reduce dependence on chemicals, improve food quality and increase the potential for developing more bio-based production systems. Therefore, novel control methods and new strategies that reduce the current dependence on insecticides need to be developed, applied and disseminated among stakeholders. As a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, integrated pest management (IPM) aims to improve farmers' practices to achieve higher profits while improving environmental quality. Implementing the principles of IPM in agricultural production requires new and up-to-date knowledge generated by science and accepted by farmers. In this Special Issue, we focus on recent advances and methods for IPM in field crops. It contains eight original research articles and two review articles dealing with different aspects of IPM in some of the major field crops: Potato, Maize, Soybean, Sugar Beet, Barley, Rice, Eggplant and Quinoa as well as farmer education issues on IPM. The studies published refer to all the basic principles of IPM and give examples of their implementation in different crops and cropping systems. Research on various aspects of the implementation of IPM in crop production is a continuous need. The research presented helps to provide a mosaic picture with examples of how crop-specific, site-specific and knowledge-intensive IPM practices should be considered and translated into workable practices.

Ecofriendly Pest Management for Food Security explores the broad range of opportunity and challenges afforded by Integrated Pest Management systems. The book focuses on the insect resistance that has developed as a result of pest control chemicals, and how new methods of environmentally complementary pest control can be used to suppress harmful organisms while protecting the soil, plants, and air around them. As the world’s population continues its rapid increase, this book addresses the production of cereals, vegetables, fruits, and other foods and their subsequent demand increase. Traditional means of food crop production face proven limitations and increasing research is turning to alternative means of crop growth and protection. Addresses environmentally focused pest control with specific attention to its role in food security and sustainability. Includes a range of pest management methods, from natural enemies to biomolecules. Written by experts with extensive real-world experience.

Insect pests remain one of the main constraints to food and fiber production worldwide despite farmers deploying a range of techniques to protect their crops. Modern pest control is guided by the principles of integrated pest management (IPM) with pest resistant germplasm being an important part of the foundation. Since 1996, when the first genetically modified (GM) insect-resistant maize variety was commercialized in the USA, the area planted to insect-resistant GM varieties has grown dramatically, representing the fastest adoption rate of any agricultural technology in human history. The goal of our book is to provide an overview on the role insect-resistant GM plants play in different crop systems worldwide. We hope that the book will contribute to a more rational debate about the role GM crops can play in IPM for food and fiber production.