Stored-product insects are a perennial problem in retail stores, where they damage and contaminate susceptible merchandise such as food products and animal feed. Historically, pest management in these stores has relied heavily on chemical insecticides, but environmental and health issues have dictated use of safer methods, and these require better monitoring. A monitoring procedure that employs...

The goal of this paper is to highlight important benefits and limitations of ubiquitous technology-based approaches to pest control that are often utilized outside the framework of integrated pest management (IPM). Particularly in Pennsylvania and other states on the fringe of the Cornbelt, where pest pressures can be lower or different than in large portions of the Midwest, farmers and pest ma...

The current changes in global climatic regimes present a significant societal challenge, affecting in all likelihood insect physiology, biochemistry, biogeography and population dynamics. With the increasing resistance of many insect pest species to chemical insecticides and an increasing organic food market, pest control strategies are slowly shifting towards more sustainable, ecologically sou...

Gene suppression via RNA interference (RNAi) provides an alternative strategy for insect pest management. The ingestion by insects of double-stranded RNAs targeting essential insect genes can trigger RNAi and lead to growth inhibition, developmental aberrations, reduced fecundity, and mortality. This RNAi response is particularly acute in certain coleopteran species, most notably the western co...

A survey of 125 farmers was conducted in 2005 in the Central and Western highlands of Kenya and the Kullu valley in the Western Himalayas of India to investigate pest management practices and constraints among farmers growing cruciferous vegetables. Lepidopteran insects were the most important pests affecting the crops and pest management relied primarily on application of pyrethroid and/or org...

Insect pests, diseases, nematodes and weeds constitute major biotic stresses in crop production systems inflicting 15 to 25% or more yield losses. Adverse effects of pesticides can be countered through adoption integrated pest management (IPM), which emphasizes harmonious use safer environment friendly methods suppression. IPM works on the premise that all population levels are not injurious cr...

Pest management techniques have evolved over the past 50 years. Inorganic chemical pesticides were replaced by synthetic organic chemicals, and now biopesticides constitute a significant part of pest management technology. Requirements for the regulatory approval of pesticides changed dramatically in 1996 with the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). The FQPA directs the U.S. Envi...

Over the past 50 years, crop protection has relied heavily on synthetic chemical pesticides, but their availability is now declining as a result of new legislation and the evolution of resistance in pest populations. Therefore, alternative pest management tactics are needed. Biopesticides are pest management agents based on living micro-organisms or natural products. They have proven potential ...