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 agricultural development, by reducing crop losses and thereby increasing productivity while minimizing environmental contamination and health hazards. Integrated pest management has evolved from pesticide-abatement strategies into analytical approaches to understand pest status within production systems in order to make informed decisions on appropriate management options that incorporate social, economic, gender and environmental issues. This chapter discusses preand postharvest insect pests in rice and reviews approaches to reduce quantitative and qualitative losses incurred along the rice value chain, in the context of a Introduction