Cover

Foreword

Contents

Preface and acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Agricultural ecosystems

Before modern pesticides and fertilisers

What lives in a crop?

Predator–prey cycle

Understanding the type of interaction

2. Pesticides

Insecticide resistance

Cross-resistance

Residues in produce; withholding periods

Non-target mortality

Disruption of biological control (primary and secondary pests)

Insecticide resistance and beneficial species

Selective insecticides

‘Safe’ insecticides?

Insecticide Resistance Management Strategies (IRM)

Zero tolerance

Pesticides: problems and how they can fit with other management options

Pheromones

Conclusion: minimal pesticide use

3. Pest species

Lifecycles and life stages

Pest response when biological control is disrupted

When classical biological control is lost

When existing biocontrol agents are disrupted

Where do pests come from?

4. Beneficial species (biological control agents)

Predators or parasitoids

Commercially produced beneficials

Examples of commercially available beneficial species

Lifecycles

Movement of beneficial species

Naturally occurring beneficial species

Common questions about beneficial species

Effectiveness of biological control

5. Cultural controls

What are cultural controls?

Manipulating non-crop plantings for pest management

Controlling weeds

Plant health

Crop hygiene

Cocoa pod borer

6. Integrating control measures to maximise degree of control

Integrating the three control measures available

The role of monitoring

Making changes in pest management

Decision-making

A crisis in pest control

Two examples of pest control

7. Changes in scientific assessment

Changes in scientific assessment and information loss

Factors influencing successful control of pests

Future strategies

8. Examples of changing pest management: specific crops

Changing to IPM

Where a change to IPM did not work

‘We tried IPM and it did not work’

Successful examples of change to IPM

A final point

Glossary

Common and scientific names of species mentioned in this book

Species mentioned, listed by scientific name

References

Index