Managing for soil health can suppress pests

Managing Fertilizers to Enhance Soil Health

Soil fertility management and insect pests: harmonizing soil and plant health in agroecosystems

Cultural methods such as crop fertilization can affect susceptibility of plants to insect pests by altering plant tissue nutrient levels. Research shows that the ability of a crop plant to resist or tolerate insect pests and diseases is tied to optimal physical, chemical and mainly biological properties of soils. Soils with high organic matter and active soil biology generally exhibit good soil...

Managing Insect Pests of Rice in Africa

(eds M.C.S. Wopereis et al.) 229 In the search for sustainable management options to increase food security, an overall challenge is to increase yields and decrease losses during production and harvest without harming the environment and resource base for future generations of farmers and consumers. As such, integrated pest management (IPM) plays a key role in the context of sustainable agricul...

Managing Resistance Evolution in Two Pests

We use a regulatory model with resistance evolution in two pests to insecticidal Bt cotton and pyrethroids (a conventional insecticide) to examine non-Bt cotton (refuge) planting requirements designed to manage Bt-resistance evolution in the midsouth. Our analysis suggests that reduced refuge requirements would enhance producer profitability, sprayed refugia are more cost effective than unspray...

Managing pests is critical in optimizing peanut

yield and quality. Applying combinations of agrichemicals is an efficient practice with known benefits. Producers may reduce the cost of pest management by limiting trips across the field. Fewer passes across a field is not only more convenient, it also reduces vine damage and has the potential to increase control of particular pests and broaden the spectrum of pests controlled. But tank mixing...