Advances in Biological Pest Control in Agroecosystems
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2024 | Viewed by 42
Special Issue Editors
Interests: aphids; thrips; biological control; integrated pest management (IPM); Soil-borne pathogens; soil disinfection; soil health management
Interests: agricultural pests; biological control; ecological regulation; insect polulation ecology; natural enemies; parasitoids
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The biological control of crop pests is based on the use of insects, mites, or fungi. Their appropriate use can allow farmers to reduce the use of pesticides or even avoid them in some specific cases. The number of active substances allowed for pest control is decreasing, leading to the repeated use of available active substances. This leads to the emergence of new resistances. Newly emerging products of natural origin as an alternative to synthetic products are often not entirely satisfactory on their own. Biological pest control (the introduction and conservation of natural enemies) has proven to be an effective and economically viable control method and is the basis of integrated pest management (IPM) in combination with other control methods. Biological pest control has now been implemented in numerous crops and has become established in large production areas. There is a need to ascertain the efficacy and compatibility of other control methods (e.g., pesticide treatments or cultural practices) with biocontrol agents.
One of the most significant challenges in the field of biological pest control is to comprehend the impact of the introduction or conservation of these biocontrol agents on the biodiversity of the crop, as well as that of the environment in which these agroecosystems are situated. These concerns will be addressed in a Special Issue of Agriculture, which will focus on the latest developments in biological pest control and their potential future applications in agroecosystems.
Dr. Manuel Cantó-Tejero
Dr. Wanxue Liu
Guest Editors
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. Agriculture 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
- integrated pest management (IPM)
- biological control
- predators
- parasitoids
- entomopathogenic agents
- natural enemies
- arthropods
- conservation biological control
