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Agronomy
Special Issues
Pest Biological Control and Crop Loss
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Pest Biological Control and Crop Loss

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2022) | Viewed by 5834

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Daniele Sommaggio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences—DISTAL, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: biodiversity; entomology; environmental science; organic farming; ecology; farming; soil; biological control; pollinators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pest biological control is a key ecological service in conservation agriculture, and it has always received special attention. Increasing biological control agents such as predators and parasitoids has been considered an important goal in integrated pest management.

Several tools have proven to be efficient in increasing the abundance and diversity of useful organisms. For example, at a plant scale, the use of elicitors seems to be particularly efficient in attracting predators and parasitoids. The same effect can be obtained by introducing cover crops or flowering plants. Recently, a great amount of attention has been focused on the importance of landscape complexity as a reservoir of beneficial organisms, favoring a spillover of these to agroecosystems.

Despite large evidence of the positive effect of these tools in increasing beneficial insects and/or reducing pests in crop, data about an increase of crop production are still controversial. The positive effect of these tools is in fact largely dependent on a high number of factors such as type of crop, pest, and geographical areas. For these reasons, there is a huge need for research that associates yield production with pest biological control.

This Special Issue therefore aims to publish high-quality articles which connect pest biological control with yield production in a large range of different crops. The purpose of the Special Issue is to obtain data about the positive effect of biological control agents (predators, parasitoids, competitors, pathogens) on reducing crop loss in order to propose practical tools with a clear advantage for farmers.

Dr. Daniele Sommaggio
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pest biological controls
  • yield loss
  • beneficial organisms
  • predators
  • parasitoids
  • pathogens

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3281 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Microbial and Botanical Insecticides on Grape Berry Moths and Their Effects on Secondary Pests and Beneficials
by Carlo Duso, Alberto Pozzebon, Mauro Lorenzon, Diego Fornasiero, Paola Tirello, Sauro Simoni and Bruno Bagnoli
Agronomy 2022, 12(1), 217; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010217 - 16 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2300
Abstract
According to the European Directive 2009/128/EC and the subsequent provisions activated in member states, conventional pesticides should be progressively replaced by “non-chemical tools and/or measures”. The identification of reliable alternatives to pesticides is crucial to achieve this objective. A European project (PURE) was [...] Read more.
According to the European Directive 2009/128/EC and the subsequent provisions activated in member states, conventional pesticides should be progressively replaced by “non-chemical tools and/or measures”. The identification of reliable alternatives to pesticides is crucial to achieve this objective. A European project (PURE) was funded to investigate this topic with reference to annual and perennial crops. In this framework, a number of natural insecticides, in particular microbial and botanical ones (Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. kurstaki, Beauveria bassiana, azadirachtin, pyrethrins and spinosad) were selected to test their effectiveness against grape berry moths, the key pests in most European vineyards. Trials were conducted in 2011 and 2012 in two experimental vineyards located in Italy (Tuscany and Veneto regions), following a randomized block design. Additional investigations were carried out in the Veneto region during 2013. Trial results stressed the high performance of spinosad and B. thuringiensis in controlling berry moth densities and the related damage. The use of B. bassiana mixed with B. thuringiensis did not significantly improve the impact of B. thuringiensis alone. Azadirachtin, and especially pyrethrins, proved to be less effective on berry moths than previous insecticides. The use of selected insecticides caused side-effects on a number of secondary pests, in particular leafhoppers. In 2011, densities of Empoasca vitis were higher in spinosad-treated plots probably because of a reduced egg parasitization rate. One year later, the population density of Zygina rhamni was higher in the plots treated with spinosad or pyrethrins. This trend was confirmed on spinosad-treated plots in the last experimental year. At the same time, spinosad and pyrethrins significantly reduced the predatory mite populations compared to other treatments. The use of these insecticides in viticulture is discussed in the framework of organic viticulture and Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pest Biological Control and Crop Loss)
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11 pages, 2742 KiB  
Article
Transcriptomic Responses of Fall Armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda) Feeding on a Resistant Maize Inbred Line Xi502 with High Benzoxazinoid Content
by Saif ul Malook, Xiao-Feng Liu, Caiyan Ma, Jinfeng Qi, Wende Liu and Shaoqun Zhou
Agronomy 2021, 11(12), 2503; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122503 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2664
Abstract
The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a devastating invasive insect herbivore. Its success on its preferred host plant, maize (Zea mays), is supported by numerous specialized detoxification mechanisms that suppress the defense responses of maize. In this study, we [...] Read more.
The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a devastating invasive insect herbivore. Its success on its preferred host plant, maize (Zea mays), is supported by numerous specialized detoxification mechanisms that suppress the defense responses of maize. In this study, we used a resistant Chinese maize cultivar, Xi502, which showed slower growth and lower yield-related phenotypes compare with maize inbred line B73. Comparative transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that B73-fed fall armyworm larvae have a significantly faster transcriptomic re-configuration toward maturation compared to their siblings fed with Xi502 leaves, whereas a number of putative aromatic breakdown -related DEGs were specifically induced when feeding on Xi502. Targeted metabolomic quantification demonstrated that Xi502 contains significantly higher levels of various benzoxazinoid compounds. Artificial feeding with the structural analog of a benzoxazinoid compound preferentially accumulated in Xi502 demonstrated a significant growth inhibition effect on FAW larvae. These results provide important genetic material and preliminary evidence for further dissection of the FAW-resistance mechanism in maize. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pest Biological Control and Crop Loss)
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