This is the last volume of the IPMD series. It aims, in a multi-disciplinary approach, at reviewing and discussing recent advances and achievements in the practice of crop protection and integrated pest and disease management. This last effort deals with management of arthropods, and is organized with a first section on biological control in citrus orchards, a second one on advanced and integrated technologies for insect pest management and a last section, dealing with mites and their biological control. A wide and exaustive literature already covers several aspects of chemical or biological control of insects and mites, but there is still a need for a more holistic vision of management, accounting for different problems and solutions, as they are applied or developed, in different regions and cropping systems, worldwide. In this series we attempted to fill this gap, providing an informative coverage for a broad range of agricultural systems and situations.

In the light of increasing restrictions on pesticides, this collection reviews advances in understanding key diseases and insect pests of tree fruit. It shows how this understanding can be used to improve integrated disease and pest management techniques.

Pests are defined purely from anthropocentric perspective. An organism is not considered a pest until its activities and life processes interfere with human health, convenience, comfort or profits. The importance of health education in the control of vector-borne diseases cannot be overstated. This should particularly be targeted at rural communities where the scourges of these diseases are most pronounced. With adequate commitment by the government at the federal, state and local levels as well as from private sectors, considerable success could be achieved in the battle against pests. This book represents an excellent addition to the literature on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). A historical overview traces the origins and concepts of pest organisms, their classification and general characteristics and the basic terminologies are given. The philosophy and goal of IPM and specific examples of chemical, cultural, biological, physical and mechanical approaches to IPM are discussed. The book is enriched with accounts of IPM practices and progression in the developing countries and the problems and prospects of implementation and the future of IPM highlighted. Also included is an interesting account of medical important arthropods and their management. A rich bibliography accompanies every chapter.

Field Crop Arthropod Pests of Economic Importance presents detailed descriptions of the biology and ecology of important arthropod pest of selected global field crops. Standard management options for insect pest control on crops include biological, non-chemical, and chemical approaches. However, because agricultural crops face a wide range of insect pests throughout the year, it can prove difficult to find a simple solution to insect pest control in many, if not most, cropping systems. A whole-farm or integrated pest management approach combines cultural, natural, and chemical controls to maintain insect pest populations below levels that cause economic damage to the crop. This practice requires accurate species identification and thorough knowledge of the biology and ecology of the target organism. Integration and effective use of various control components is often enhanced when the target organism is correctly identified, and its biology and ecology are known. This book provides a key resource toward that identification and understanding. Students and professionals in agronomy, insect detection and survey, and economic entomology will find the book a valuable learning aid and resource tool. Includes insect synonyms, common names, and geographic distribution Provides information on natural enemies Is thoroughly referenced for future research

Precision targeting is a method of determining the total distribution of any parameter of interest, and directing interventions based on that distribution. Based on geostatistics, precision targeting analyzes the locations and values of observations to discern a pattern of spatial continuity of the observations, then uses this pattern to estimate distributions between sampled locations. The total distribution is then expressed as a contour map showing isolines of equal parameter density. Precision targeting has many advantages, but perhaps the greatest improvement it brings to the pest manager is the reduction in pesticides needed to control pests. Precision targeting's inherent pinpointing of pest infestations eliminates the need to treat the entire facility, thereby reducing the amount of pesticide used, the exposure, and expense associated with current methodologies. Precision targeting can make a key contribution to achieving DoD's mandate to reduce pesticide use by 50 per cent by 2000 while actually increasing the effectiveness of operations.

This, the first volume of the ‘Integrated Management of Plant Pests and Diseases’ book series, presents general concepts on integrated pest and disease management. Section one includes chapters on infection models, resurgence and replacement, plant disease epidemiology and effects of climate change in tropical environments. The second section includes remote sensing and information technology. Finally, the third section covers molecular aspects of the subject.