Trap cropping in South Asia: Concepts, limitations, and future strategy

Cultural methods are some of the most widely adopted approaches in integrated pest management. Trap cropping is based on the principle of using a relatively more preferred crop species to keep the pest away from the main crop and reduce pest damage. This technique has tremendous potential to keep the pest below the economic damage threshold and can be used for pest management in organic farming. Furthermore, trap crops can be linked to habitat management and conservation biological control to improve multiple ecosystem services in an agroecosystem. While trap cropping is one of the most common cultural pest management control methods in subsistence farming in South Asia, it has not yet become common in conventional agriculture, nor has this practice been well documented in this region. This work broadly reviews the most relevant literature related to trap cropping used in pest management in this region. Regional cooperation for knowledge-sharing and research collaborations, motivating farmers to promote organic farming, along with increased research and policy interventions to favor sustainable agriculture have been done to promote this pest management practice in South Asia