Mango insect pests and their integrated management strategies

Abstract

Plant protection research is focused on integrating new tools and technologies into IPM in horticulture. The fruit sector in India recorded a growth of around 16% last year, compared to 12% for vegetables and 10.8% for food grains. When used in conjunction with other pest control measures, plant protection research in horticulture has produced many technologies, some of which have been standardized for commercial application and are claimed to provide better pest control and crop economics than conventional chemical control. Nonetheless, due to a variety of technological, socio-economic, institutional, and policy factors, the development and adoption of many of these technologies have been slow. Owing to the complexity of biotic stress in horticulture under changing climatic scenarios, technology generation, and other factors, testing and adoption remain a significant challenge, particularly given the constraints and limited ability of smallholding farmers. There have been overlapping IPM approaches in India, such as the traditional, exploitive/maximization phase, optimization phase, sustainable phase, and organic methods.