Advanced Pest Control Strategies of Fruit Crops

Dear Colleagues,

Fruit crops are vital to global food production, but they face significant challenges from various insect pests that can severely impact yield and quality. Traditional pest management that only relies on pesticide applications has become less effective due to the rise in pesticide resistance, regulatory limitations, and health and environmental concerns. This Special Issue will explore innovative and advanced pest management strategies that aim to enhance the sustainability of fruit production systems. Topics will include the development of novel and sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, new biopesticides, sterile insect techniques, enhancing the efficacy of beneficial organisms, pest-resistant crop varieties, and the implementation of transformative technologies such as precision agriculture, sensor networks, and data-driven decision-making tools. This issue will also cover ecological and economic aspects of novel approaches to pest management in fruit crops such as apples, citrus, grapes, and berries.

This Special Issue will feature original research articles and reviews written by leading entomologists and experts in advanced pest management for fruit crops. The articles included will focus on the latest developments in innovative strategies, including the use of biopesticides, integrated pest management (IPM), and pest-resistant crop varieties. Special emphasis will be placed on cutting-edge technologies such as sensor networks, precision agriculture, and data-driven decision-making tools. Additionally, this issue will explore the role of insect sensory ecology and its applications in developing attract-and-kill strategies.

Dr. Andrea Birke
Dr. Jaime C. Piñero
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Insects 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.