Modern agriculture is based on the large use of external inputs to achieve profitable yields. For years, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides have ensured high crop yields in a relatively simple way, though with significant negative impacts on the environment, operators, and consumers. In the last decades, various approaches to biological control and integrated pest management have been proposed to reduce the dependence on synthetic chemicals in agriculture. Precision agriculture also aims at reducing the massive use of external inputs for crop cultivation.

Classical crop protection is widely used because of its effectiveness and consistent results across environments and seasons. Agroecological management requires more skills, higher expertise, and is context-dependent. Nowadays, this approach is proposed especially in low- and middle-income countries, while it is limited in intensive agriculture. The goal of this Research Topic is to collect contributions helpful to understanding if, how, and when agroecological management is feasible in the present and/or in the near future.

This Research Topic aims to cover several aspects touching the agroecological disease and pest management:
- Agroecological management of key pests and pathogens of important crops
- Agroecological management in marginal areas and/or extreme environments
- Conceptualization of case studies to evaluate the effectiveness of agroecological management
- Quantification of costs and benefits of agroecological management
- Societal perception of classical crop protection and agroecological management
- Fostering agroecological management in the farmer perception
- Attitudes of several agrosystems to agroecological management
- Exploitation, preservation, and restoration of biodiversity
- Rationale use and reuse of resources
- To produce better (not more) with less

Original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and especially perspective articles are most welcome.

Submit your idea

Impact

Frontiers in Agronomy

Participating Journals

Impact