Six Steps for Profitable and Environmentally Sound Management of Crop Pests

PaperHow to balance control of pests with profitable crop production and environmental protection

Understanding Crop Pests

The first part of this volume presents in brief the life cycles of all the most important crop insect pests in the United States. Knowledge of the life cycle is necessary to a clear understanding of the insect and the injury which is often done by it in its larvae stage. The second part of this volume provides brief descriptions and illustrations of the most common weed pests and fungus diseases of crops in the United States.https://openspaces.unk.edu/air-info/1001/thumbnail.jp

The global spread of crop pests and pathogens

AimTo describe the patterns and trends in the spread of crop pests and pathogens around the world, and determine the socioeconomic, environmental and biological factors underlying the rate and degree of redistribution of crop-destroying organisms. LocationGlobal. MethodsCurrent country- and state-level distributions of 1901 pests and pathogens and historical observation dates for 424 species were compared with potential distributions based upon distributions of host crops. The degree of saturation', i.e. the fraction of the potential distribution occupied, was related to pest type, host range, crop production, climate and socioeconomic variables using linear models. ResultsMore than one-tenth of all pests have reached more than half the countries that grow their hosts. If current trends continue, many important crop-producing countries will be fully saturated with pests by the middle of the century. While dispersal increases with host range overall, fungi have the narrowest host range but are the most widely dispersed group. The global dispersal of some pests has been rapid, but pest assemblages remain strongly regionalized and follow the distributions of their hosts. Pest assemblages are significantly correlated with socioeconomics, climate and latitude. Tropical staple crops, with restricted latitudinal ranges, tend to be more saturated with pests and pathogens than temperate staples with broad latitudinal ranges. We list the pests likely to be the most invasive in coming years. Main conclusionsDespite ongoing dispersal of crop pests and pathogens, the degree of biotic homogenization of the globe remains moderate and regionally constrained, but is growing. Fungal pathogens lead the global invasion of agriculture, despite their more restricted host range. Climate change is likely to influence future distributions. Improved surveillance would reveal greater levels of invasion, particularly in developing countries

Beneficial insects and control of crop pests

Non-Peer Reviewe

A choice experiment method to assess vegetables producers’ preferences for crop insurance

Agricultural producers face many risks in their economic activity due to weather conditions, plant or animal diseases, price volatility, policy changes and so on. One of the management tools to deal with some of these risks is the crop insurance system. In Catalonia (North-East of Spain) farmers’ participation in crop insurance for vegetables is low. Only 5 percent of the vegetables area is insured, when in Spain, as a whole, this percentage is around 20 percent. Different reasons have been suggested to explain this low participation ratio such as low risk perception, risk diversification, insurance cost or crop damage assessment rules, among others. However, no systematic research has been undertaken to assess farmers’ preferences for crop insurance in Catalonia. Through a survey of 93 vegetables farmers in the main productive areas in Catalonia, we conducted choice experiments to assess main farmers’ preferences for crop insurance. Each insurance policy was defined by 4 attributes: insurance cost; risks covered; minimum production damage level; and crop damage assessment rule. Results identify that insurance cost and crop damage assessment rules are among the most important factors to explain farmers’ behaviour toward crop insurance. These results allow us to suggest some recommendations specifically addressed to re-orientate the existing crop insurance policy in the vegetables sector in Catalonia.crop insurance, vegetables, choice experiments, Catalonia., Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Mortality of the invasive white garden snail Theba pisana exposed to three US isolates of Phasmarhabditis spp (P. hermaphrodita, P. californica, and P. papillosa).

Theba pisana is a serious snail pest in many parts of the world and affects diverse crops including grain, vegetables, grapevines, and ornamental plants and shrubs. Due to its gregarious nature, ability to reproduce rapidly, and the difficulty of controlling it by conventional methods, it has the potential to become a significant pest where introduced. Mitigating this pest is an important challenge that must be addressed. Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, is a gastropod-killing nematode that is commercially available only in Europe (Nemaslug ®) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Slugtech ® SP). The use of effective gastropod-killing nematodes in the genus Phasmarhabditis (P. hermaphrodita, P. californica and P. papillosa) in California may provide one strategy for alleviating the potential damage and further spread of these snails, which are currently limited to San Diego and Los Angeles counties. Laboratory assays demonstrated for the first time that US isolates of P. hermaphrodita, P. californica and P. papillosa at 150 DJs/cm2 caused significant mortality and are equally lethal to T. pisana. Molluscicidal efficacy of these nematodes are comparable with those of iron phosphate, at the recommended high dose of 4.88 kg/m2. Additional trials are needed to determine their effects at lower dose and whether they are dependent on the size or age of the snails

The global spread of crop pests and pathogens

AcceptedArticle in PressCopyright © 2014 The Authors. Global Ecology and Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Aim: To describe the patterns and trends in the spread of crop pests and pathogens around the world, and determine the socioeconomic, environmental and biological factors underlying the rate and degree of redistribution of crop-destroying organisms. Location: Global. Methods: Current country- and state-level distributions of 1901 pests and pathogens and historical observation dates for 424 species were compared with potential distributions based upon distributions of host crops. The degree of 'saturation', i.e. the fraction of the potential distribution occupied, was related to pest type, host range, crop production, climate and socioeconomic variables using linear models. Results: More than one-tenth of all pests have reached more than half the countries that grow their hosts. If current trends continue, many important crop-producing countries will be fully saturated with pests by the middle of the century. While dispersal increases with host range overall, fungi have the narrowest host range but are the most widely dispersed group. The global dispersal of some pests has been rapid, but pest assemblages remain strongly regionalized and follow the distributions of their hosts. Pest assemblages are significantly correlated with socioeconomics, climate and latitude. Tropical staple crops, with restricted latitudinal ranges, tend to be more saturated with pests and pathogens than temperate staples with broad latitudinal ranges. We list the pests likely to be the most invasive in coming years. Main conclusions: Despite ongoing dispersal of crop pests and pathogens, the degree of biotic homogenization of the globe remains moderate and regionally constrained, but is growing. Fungal pathogens lead the global invasion of agriculture, despite their more restricted host range. Climate change is likely to influence future distributions. Improved surveillance would reveal greater levels of invasion, particularly in developing countries. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.BBSR