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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #405793
Research Project: Next-Generation Approaches for Monitoring and Management of Stored Product Insects

Location: Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research

Title: Editorial: Integrated pest management strategies for sustainable food production

Author
item DARA, SURENDRA - Oregon State University
item RODRIGUEZ-SAONA, CESAR - Rutgers University
item Morrison, William - Rob

Submitted to: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/22/2023
Publication Date: 6/2/2023
Citation: Dara, S.K., Rodriguez-Saona, C., Morrison Iii, W.R. 2023. Editorial: Integrated pest management strategies for sustainable food production. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 7:1224604. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1224604.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1224604

Interpretive Summary: Numerous species of native and invasive insect pests threaten productivity of food crops and negatively impact food security and affordability around the world. Synthetic pesticide application is the most common practice for managing various pests, which, if not managed effectively, can lead to pesticide resistance, endangerment of beneficial organisms due to off-target effects, residue buildup that harms environmental and human health, and increased crop production costs. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies offer a comprehensive solution to suppress populations of multiple pest species in an economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and socially acceptable manner. A key shortcoming of IPM is that the integration of multiple pest management practices has proceeded haphazardly and without systematic scientific testing, and sometimes resulted in unacceptable outcomes. Thus, although numerous scientific publications present the efficacy of various pest control options and their role in an IPM program, there are few peer-reviewed publications that offer comprehensive solutions for various pests of a crop or a particular pest that attacks multiple crops before or after harvest. In this editorial on this topic, we invited reviews or original research articles that provide comprehensive IPM solutions for specific agroecosystems, pests, or crops that can help researchers, educators, students, and agriculture. These articles cover a range of topics including a summary of comprehensive IPM approaches for spittlebugs, IPM against multiple pests in cranberry, applying ecological theories to improve IPM in post-harvest settings, discussing IPM and regulatory issues of edible insects, and evaluating how the advancement of precision agriculture and artificial intelligence is affecting IPM. In the end, we have curated multiple important articles that will advance IPM forward for a variety of crop systems and insect pests.

Technical Abstract: Numerous species of endemic and invasive pests threaten productivity of food crops and negatively impact food security and affordability around the world. Synthetic pesticide application is the most common practice for addressing various pests, which frequently leads to pesticide resistance, endangerment of beneficial organisms, residue buildup that harms environmental and human health, and increased yield losses and crop production costs. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies offer a comprehensive solution to address all kinds of pests in an economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and socially acceptable manner contributing to safe and effective pest suppression. A key shortcoming of IPM is that integration of practices has proceeded haphazardly, proven ineffective, and yielded unacceptable outcomes. Thus, although numerous scientific publications present the efficacy of various pest control options and their role in an IPM program, there is a dearth of peer-reviewed publications that offer comprehensive solutions for various pests of a crop or a particular pest that attacks multiple crops before or after harvest. In this editorial on this Research Topic, we invited reviews or original research that provide system, pest- or crop-specific comprehensive IPM solutions that can help researchers, educators, students, and agriculture. These include those taking a comprehensive look at IPM of spittlebugs, in cranberry, applying ecological concepts to IPM after harvest, discussing IPM and regulatory issues of edible insects, and evaluating how the digital transformation of agriculture is affecting IPM. In the end, we have curated multiple important articles that will help move the state of the art forward in different ways for IPM and specific systems.