Agro-ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture

This book outlines a new paradigm, “Agro-ecological Intensification of Crop Protection”, which reduces negative impacts on the environment and enhances the provision of ecosystem services. It discusses the use of ecologically based management strategies to increase the sustainability of agricultural production while reducing off-site consequences, highlighting the underlying principles and outlining some of the key management practices and technologies required to implement agro-ecological pest management. It also comprehensively explores important topics like stimulo-deterrent diversion strategy, precision agriculture, plant breeding, nutrient management, habitat management, cultural approaches, cultivar mixtures/multiline cultivars, crop rotation, crop residue management, crop diversity, cover crops, conservation tillage, biofumigation, agro-forestry, and addition of organic matter. This timely book promotes the rapid implementation of this technology in farming community around the globe.

It is a valuable resource for the scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities related to agro-ecological pest management as well as policymakers and practicing farmers. It can also be used for teaching post-graduate courses.

Dr. P. Parvatha Reddy obtained his Ph. D. degree jointly from the University of Florida, USA and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. 

He served as the director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) at Bangalore from 1999 to 2002 during which time the Institute was honored with the “ICAR Best Institution Award.” He also served as the head of the Division of Entomology and Nematology at IIHR and gave tremendous impetus and direction to research, extension and education in developing bio-intensive integrated pest management strategies in horticultural crops. Dr. Reddy has over 34 years of experience working with horticultural crops and was involved in developing an F1 tomato hybrid “Arka Varadan” resistant to root-knot nematodes. Dr. Reddy has over 250 scientific publications to his credit, including 30 books.

He is currently chairman of the Research Advisory Committee (RAC), Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi; and senior scientific advisor at the Dr. Prem Nath Agricultural Science Foundation, Bangalore. He was also a member of the RAC at the National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, New Delhi; member of the Expert Panel for monitoring the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) research program on the topic of horticulture including pest dynamics and pollinators; member of the RAC of the National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur and the Project Directorate of Biological Control, Bangalore. He served as a member of the QRT to review the progress of the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Trivandrum; AICRP on Tuber Crops; AICRP on Nematodes and AINRP on Betel vine. He is an honorary fellow of the Society for Plant Protection Sciences, New Delhi; fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi and founder president of the Association for Advancement of Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems (AAPMHE), Bangalore.

Dr. Reddy has been awardedthe prestigious “Association for Advancement Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems Award”, “Dr. G.I. D’souza Memorial Lecture Award”, “Prof. H.M. Shah Memorial Award” and “Hexamar Agricultural Research and Development Foundation Award” for his unstinting efforts in developing sustainable, bio-intensive and eco-friendly integrated pest management strategies in horticultural crops.

Dr. Reddy organized the “Fourth International Workshop on Biological Control and Management of Chromolaena odorata”, the “National Seminar on Hi-tech Horticulture”, the “First National Symposium on Pest Management in Horticultural Crops: Environmental Implications and Thrusts”, and the “Second National Symposium on Pest Management in Horticultural Crops: New Molecules and Biopesticides.”