Entomopathogenic Fungi and Their Applications in Pest Management and Control
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biological control; insect agricultural pests; entomopathogenic fungi; insect natural enemies; integrated pest management
Interests: biological control; entomopathogenic fungi; agricultural pests; bioengineering of bioinsecticides; novel technologies for bioinsecticide formulations
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Agriculture is the foundation for human civilization. The human population continues to grow and is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, so providing food for humanity has become a challenge that requires maximum yields and minimal losses. At present, 55% of food produced by agriculture is intended for direct human consumption, while 36% is used for animal feed and 9% for other uses. This highlights the importance of plant products to human nutrition. However, plant crops are threatened by several types of pests that reduce production and may serve as vectors of disease, and losses due to insects and weeds may reach up to 40% annually; thus, eco-friendly strategies for pest control are urgently needed.
This Special Issue aims to showcase studies on the use of entomopathogenic and antagonist fungi as agents of biological control against agricultural pests. Fungi represent eco-friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides against insect pests and plant pathogens, thus representing vital agents for advancing sustainable agriculture and ecological health. They are employed in effective integrated management strategies that aim to reduce reliance on synthetic chemicals in agriculture, thus increasing food safety and ecological equilibrium. We invite authors to submit recent research, opinions, and reviews on the role of fungi as pathogens against agricultural pests, and as promoters of plant growth and soil health.
Prof. Dr. César Marcial Escobedo-Bonilla
Prof. Dr. Cipriano García-Gutiérrez
Guest Editors
Prof. Dr. Sandra Pérez Álvarez
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- entomopathogenic fungi
- antagonist fungi
- biological control
- grains and vegetable crops
- agricultural pests
- disease vector pests
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