Insect pest management in conservation agriculture

Abstract

Insects are a dominant form of life on Earth with more than 1 million described species. Yet, only 1% competes with humans for food, shelter, and space. Various farming systems have been adopted for sustainable pest management but none have been entirely successful in managing insect pests. Chemical insecticides are still the predominant pest control measure but cause health hazard and environmental pollution. The long-term sustainability of agricultural and natural ecosystems depends upon the conservation of natural resources. Conservation agriculture (CA) is a novel approach with a series of practices that strives for acceptable profits together with high and sustained production levels while concurrently conserving the environment. It also increases biodiversity of both flora and fauna which helps to control insect pests, contradictory reports incite concerns regarding reduced yields, increased labor requirements due to avoiding herbicides, and insect pest problems. It is therefore necessary to integrate alternative cultural, biological, mechanical, and appropriate chemical and biotechnological control methods for pest management. The principle of integrated pest management (IPM) creates a balanced environment between sustainable environmental practices and profitable farming. Both IPM and CA work on the same principles to help increase biodiversity and conservation of natural resources. In addition, recent advances in insect pest management like biointensive IPM, precision agriculture (PA) and biotechnology can also synergize the insect pest management in the CA management system. Sustainable pest management for crop production is possible in CA management systems by using IPM in combination with biotechnology and PA.