As a result of the green revolution, the use of yield-increasing inputs such as fer tilizer and pesticides became a matter of course in irrigated rice farming in Southeast Asia. Pesticides were applied liberally, both as a guarantee against crop failure and as a means of fully utilizing the existing yield potential of the crops. However, since outbreaks of pests, such as the brown planthopper (BPH) or the tungro virus, continued to occur despite the application of chemicals, a change of approach began to take place. It is now being realized more and more in Southeast Asia that crop protection problems cannot be resolved solely by the application of chemicals. In the past several years, increasing efforts have there fore been made to introduce, as a first step, supervised crop protection, leading gradually to integrated pest management (Kranz, 1982). Although the crop protection problems naturally differ in the different devel oping countries in Southeast Asia, the economic situation prevailing in these countries can nevertheless be regarded as an important common determinant: pesticide imports use up scarce foreign currency and thus compete with other imports essential to development. For the individual rice farmer, the problem is basically the same: his cash funds are limited and he must carefully weigh whether to use them for purchas ing pesticides, fertilizer or certified seed. In view of this constraint, it is becom ing necessary to abandon the purely prophylactic, routine calendar spraying and instead, employ critically timed and need-based pesticide applications.

Crop loss assessment: background, rationale, and concepts; Component technology for crop loss assessment; Applications of pest and loss assessment technology to pest management.

Pest and disease management continues to challenge the agricultural community. The rise in new pest and crop problems juxtaposed with public concern over pesticide use and more stringent environmental regulations creates the need for today's agricultural producers to stay current with new technologies for producing quality crops profitably. Biological and Biotechnological Control of Insect Pests presents an overview of alternative measures to traditional pest management practices, utilizing biological control and biotechnology. The removal of some highly effective broad-spectrum chemicals, caused by concerns over environmental health and public safety, has resulted in the development of alternative, reduced risk crop protection products. These products, less toxic to the environment and easily integrated into biological control systems, target specific life stages or pest species. Predation - recognized as a suitable, long term strategy - effectively suppresses pests in biotechnological control systems. Biological and Biotechnological Control of Insect Pests covers these topics and more. It explores the current approaches in alternative solutions such as: biological control agents, parasites and predators, pathogenic microorganisms, pheromones, botanical insecticides, genetic control, genetic engineering of plants and biocontrol agents, and government regulations for biocontrol agents and recombinant DNA technology. This book will be a useful resource to entomologists, agronomists, horticulturists, and environmental scientists.

The objective of this book is to provide information to be used as a basis for evaluating the fragile, shaky structure of global food production. The volume analyses the data by region and by intensity of cultivation; and furnishes information about the yield response, giving some indication of the health of the plants. It will be invaluable to all plant and crop scientists as well as to agriculturalists.

Traditional and modern perspectives of neem; Using neem to controle pests; Effects of neem on montarget organisms; Socioeconomics of neem; Neem use in integrated pes management; Botanical pesticides other than neem; Lessons leamed and the next steps.

Due to the worldwide importance of rice as a crop plant, the biology of rice pests is of great interest to agricultural research. This timely book brings together contributions from the fields of entomology, agronomy, population ecology, and biostatistics to provide a comprehensive survey of rice-insect interaction. Among the topics discussed are - crop loss assessment - economic thresholds and injury levels for incest pests - mosquito leafhoppers and planthoppers population dynamics - pheromone utilization - techniques for predator evaluation - chemical based for insect resistance - applications of tissue culture - systems analysis and - rice pestmanagement. With its emphasis on experimental techniques of pest analysis and control, Rice Insects: Management Strategies will be a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners alike.