E. A. Heinrichs - Böcker

This book fills the need for a comprehensive treatment of rice entomology under one cover. The contributors to this book, drawn from various related disciplines, discuss the fundamentals of rice entomology, the biology and ecology of rice insects and the various techniques of rice insect control , namely, host plant resistance, cultural, mechanical and physical controls, predators and parasitoids, pathogens and insecticides.

"For anyone who wants information on the insect pests of rice, this book provides an enormous amount of information about the root and stem feeders, stem borers, gall midges, leafhoppers, planthoppers, foliage feeders and panicle feeders, together with colour illustrations and line drawings, supported by an extensive list of references to each chapter. For each insect, information is given on their distribution, host plants, their biology/ecology and plant damage they cause."Outlooks on Pest ManagementThe rice plant is an ideal host for many insect species. All of the plant parts are vulnerable to insect-feeding from the time of sowing till harvest. There are over 800 insect species damaging rice in one way or another, although the majority of them do very little damage. In tropical Asia only about 20 species are of major importance. In Africa, 15 species of insects are considered major rice pests and in the Americas about 20 species are considered major pests.To develop effective pest management strategies, it is essential to properly identify and understand the biology and ecology of insect pests and the arthropods that help regulate their populations. This book effectively utilizes the unique knowledge and expertise of leading rice entomologists from Africa, Asia and the Americas to provide the first global coverage of rice insect pests. The discussion of each pest includes geographical distribution, plant hosts other than rice, description and biology, plant damage and ecology.

This collection features four peer-reviewed reviews on integrated pest management (IPM) in cereal cultivation.The first chapter describes a holistic approach to IPM using knowledge of the natural regulation of herbivore and weed populations and of natural succession in agricultural wetlands. It also highlights the need for an improved understanding of rice ecosystems in a holistic manner to ensure the economic and environmental sustainability of rice production.The second chapter provides a brief overview of IPM and reviews the range of control methods available to growers, including biological, cultural and chemical. The chapter considers the implementation of IPM programmes in wheat production and utilises a case study from New Zealand to demonstrate a successful example of it.The third chapter discusses key insect pests of sorghum, their life cycles and their impact on crop productivity and performance. The chapter reviews the use of IPM programmes as a sustainable alternative to controlling pest infestations without the need for insecticides.The final chapter examines host plant resistance as an ecological approach to managing crop pests and considers the process of evaluating resistance on the basis of insect behavior. The chapter also looks at breeding rice for resistance to insect pests and considers the constraints on the development and deployment of insect-resistant plant technology.

It is an edited book with chapters written by multi-disciplinary specialists in their specific subject areas. It covers development of IPM components and packaging them for individual vegetable crops specifically targeted to tropical countries. Scientific background for IPM components or tactics will be included. There will be case studies of IPM packages developed and implemented in different countries. The concept of IPM has been in existence for the past six decades; however, a practical holistic program has not been developed and implemented for vegetable crops, in the developing countries.   Currently the IPM adoption rate in the tropics is minimal and there is a need for implementation of IPM technologies that are environmentally safe, economical, and socially acceptable. We believe that adoption and implementation of IPM provided in this book will lead to significant reduction in crop losses and mitigate adverse impacts of pesticide use in the tropics. This book is an outcome 20 years of research, development and implementation of the IPM CRSP, a project supported by USAID and administered by Virginia Tech in several developing countries along the tropical belt in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. ​