A great challenge in the coming years is the development of strategies to increase crop productivity while maintaining a balanced ecosystem and healthy environment. In the next decade, research efforts will focus on the establishment of effective sustainable strategies for pest management and increased agricultural yield.
Crops are parasitized by a wide array of insects, fungi, viruses, and nematodes. Plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are small worm-like animals that attack some of the most important global crops. Their impact on worldwide crop yield is believed to be greater than phytophagous insects yet is often underestimated due to the similarity of symptoms between PPN disease and abiotic stress, e.g., water deficit, and nutrient or metal extremes. The rising impacts of PPN epidemic events in forestry and agroecosystems are linked to climate change and land degradation, but, more importantly, to the ban on some of the most effective nematocidal pesticides. These pesticides have been banned due to serious environmental and public health concerns, resulting in debilitated modern pest management.
Shifting to sustainable PPN management strategies is crucial to maintain global agricultural output and minimize disturbances to the surrounding natural ecosystems. Novel approaches for sustainable management of PPNs are increasingly sought after to facilitate compliance with the ethical and environmental demands of transnational common policies and public opinion.
This Research Topic welcomes reviews, opinion, and original research articles that contribute to novel approaches to PPN pest management in the framework of sustainable agriculture and forestry. This topic will focus on research divulging ways to control the occurrence and impacts of PPNs by means including the following:
• natural host resistance
• the use of cultural controls, e.g., crop rotation or the use of cover crops, or resorting to novel biopesticides, mainly microbial and biochemical pesticides
• plant extracts and phytochemicals or plant-incorporated protectants, although other innovative approaches are very welcome.
A great challenge in the coming years is the development of strategies to increase crop productivity while maintaining a balanced ecosystem and healthy environment. In the next decade, research efforts will focus on the establishment of effective sustainable strategies for pest management and increased agricultural yield.
Crops are parasitized by a wide array of insects, fungi, viruses, and nematodes. Plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are small worm-like animals that attack some of the most important global crops. Their impact on worldwide crop yield is believed to be greater than phytophagous insects yet is often underestimated due to the similarity of symptoms between PPN disease and abiotic stress, e.g., water deficit, and nutrient or metal extremes. The rising impacts of PPN epidemic events in forestry and agroecosystems are linked to climate change and land degradation, but, more importantly, to the ban on some of the most effective nematocidal pesticides. These pesticides have been banned due to serious environmental and public health concerns, resulting in debilitated modern pest management.
Shifting to sustainable PPN management strategies is crucial to maintain global agricultural output and minimize disturbances to the surrounding natural ecosystems. Novel approaches for sustainable management of PPNs are increasingly sought after to facilitate compliance with the ethical and environmental demands of transnational common policies and public opinion.
This Research Topic welcomes reviews, opinion, and original research articles that contribute to novel approaches to PPN pest management in the framework of sustainable agriculture and forestry. This topic will focus on research divulging ways to control the occurrence and impacts of PPNs by means including the following:
• natural host resistance
• the use of cultural controls, e.g., crop rotation or the use of cover crops, or resorting to novel biopesticides, mainly microbial and biochemical pesticides
• plant extracts and phytochemicals or plant-incorporated protectants, although other innovative approaches are very welcome.