Management of Insect Pests in Vegetable Crops: Concepts and Approaches

This new book on the sustainable management of insect pests in important vegetables offers valuable management strategies in detail. It focuses on eco-friendly technology and approaches to mitigating the damage caused by insect pests with special reference to newer insecticides. Chapters in the volume provide an introduction to vegetable entomology and go on to present a plethora of research on sustainable eco-friendly pest management strategies for root vegetables, spice crops, tuber crops, and more.

Vegetable crops that are infested by several insect pests from the nursery to the harvesting stage cause enormous crop losses. Given that it is estimated that up to 40 percent of global crops are lost to agricultural pests each year, new research on effective management strategies is vital. The valuable information provided in this book will be very helpful for faculty and advanced-level students, scientists and researchers, policymakers, and others involved in pest management for vegetable crops.

Ramanuj Vishwakarma, PhD, is Assistant Professor and Junior Scientist in the Department of Entomology at Bihar Agricultural College at Bihar Agricultural University (BAU), Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. He is also performing the duty of Nodal Officer of the Beekeeping and Honey Production Unit of the university. During his tenure, he has specialized in integrated pest management in broccoli, bottle gourd, brinjal (eggplant), chili, cabbage, mustard, and sunflower by using a number of plant products and entomopathogenic fungi. He did research on the pollinating efficiency of insect pollinators, including honeybees, for enhancing crop productivity and for conserving the ecosystem. He has received many prestigious awards and has published research articles in national and international journals. He has written or edited and published books, book chapters, a bulletin, manuals, and popular articles. He has handled several research projects funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and BAU. He has successfully guided several MSc (Agriculture) and other students for their degree programs.

Ranjeet Kumar, PhD, is Assistant Professor and Junior Scientist in the Postgraduate Department of Entomology at Bihar Agriculture University in Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. He has worked on stored product entomology for the sustainable management of stored grains and seed insect pests. During his course of investigation, Dr. Kumar developed several herbal fumigants for sustainable management of stored grains and seed insects. He has published several books and a manual. In addition, he has published many research papers in national and international journals as well as popular articles in magazine and periodicals. Dr. Kumar is a life member and fellow of several scientific committees and societies. He has received an award from the International Conference on Entomology at Punjabi University, Punjab, India.