Advances in pest and disease management in greenhouse cultivation

Description

Greenhouse crops are continuously under pressure of infestations by a wide range of pests and diseases. This chapter describes the myriad practices that can contribute to managing pests and diseases, and how to integrate these practices in an ecologically based integrated pest management (IPM) approach. The chapter offers a historical perspective on the development of IPM, together with an explanation of its underlying rationale and main challenges. The chapter discusses the different components of IPM, including sanitation, cultural control, preventative and curative biological control. The chapter examines food web complexities, which inevitably result from integrating multiple biological control agents in a single crop, and offers a detailed case study on IPM implementation in tomato. Finally, the chapter looks ahead to future research trends in this area and suggests further reading on the subject.

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 History of ecologically based IPM 3 Main challenges in ecologically based IPM 4 Components and rationale of ecologically based IPM 5 Cultural control practices 6 Methods to enhance the establishment of BCAs through the supplementation of resources 7 Curative control measures 8 Food web complexities in BC 9 Case study 10 Conclusion and future trends 11 Where to look for further information 12 References