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Agronomy
Special Issues
Sustainable Management of Arthropod Pests in Agriculture
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Sustainable Management of Arthropod Pests in Agriculture

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 1321

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ting Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
Interests: insect-plant interaction; toxicology; genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Olufemi Ajayi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
Interests: urban entomology; integrated pest management; plant-insect interaction; chemical ecology of insects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fang (Rose) Zhu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Interests: arthropod structural biology; enzymology; stress signaling; xenobiotic adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The impacts of climate change, resistance development, and other environmental challenges have made arthropod pests an increasingly significant threat to crops and agricultural products. Developing sustainable management strategies to combat these pests is crucial for minimizing economic losses. Effective pest management requires a thorough understanding of the mechanisms via which insects develop resistance to synthetic chemicals and plant-produced secondary metabolites. Combining this knowledge with targeted and appropriate field control strategies forms the foundation of sustainable pest management. Key approaches, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Integrated Crop Management (ICM), and Integrated Resistance Management (IRM), offer effective solutions for pest control and protect non-target organisms, such as pollinators, while reducing environmental contamination.

This Special Issue will facilitate the exchange of knowledge on sustainable management practices and foster innovation in agricultural arthropod pest control. We welcome cutting-edge research contributions, including original studies and comprehensive reviews, in areas such as biological control, advanced pest monitoring systems, gene drive and resistance breeding technologies, artificial intelligence-based analyses, and other innovative approaches.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Arthropoda.

Dr. Ting Li
Dr. Olufemi Ajayi
Dr. Fang (Rose) Zhu
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • arthropod pests
  • sustainable management
  • crop protection
  • climate change
  • resistance development
  • biological control
  • artificial intelligence
  • genome editing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 4995 KiB  
Article
Automatic Potato Crop Beetle Recognition Method Based on Multiscale Asymmetric Convolution Blocks
by Jingjun Cao, Xiaoqing Xian, Minghui Qiu, Xin Li, Yajie Wei, Wanxue Liu, Guifen Zhang and Lihua Jiang
Agronomy 2025, 15(7), 1557; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15071557 - 26 Jun 2025
Viewed by 256
Abstract
Five beetle species can occur in potato fields simultaneously, including one quarantine pest (the Colorado potato beetle (CPB)), one phytophagous pest (the 28-spotted potato ladybird beetle), and three predatory ladybird beetles (the 7-spotted lady beetle, the tortoise beetle, and the harlequin ladybird beetle). [...] Read more.
Five beetle species can occur in potato fields simultaneously, including one quarantine pest (the Colorado potato beetle (CPB)), one phytophagous pest (the 28-spotted potato ladybird beetle), and three predatory ladybird beetles (the 7-spotted lady beetle, the tortoise beetle, and the harlequin ladybird beetle). The timely detection and accurate identification of CPB and other phytophagous or predatory beetles are critical for the effective implementation of monitoring and control strategies. However, morphological identification requires specialized expertise, is time-consuming, and is particularly challenging due to the dark brown body color of these beetles when in the young larval stages. This study provides an effective solution to distinguish between phytophagous and/or quarantine and predatory beetles. This solution is in the form of a new convolutional neural network architecture, known as MSAC-ResNet. Specifically, it comprises several multiscale asymmetric convolution blocks, which are designed to extract features at multiple scales, mainly by integrating different-sized asymmetric convolution kernels in parallel. We evaluated the MSAC-ResNet through comprehensive model training and testing on a beetle image dataset of 11,325 images across 20 beetle categories. The proposed recognition model achieved accuracy, precision, and recall rates of 99.11%, 99.18%, and 99.11%, respectively, outperforming another five existing models, namely, AlexNet, MobileNet-v3, EfficientNet-b0, DenseNet, and ResNet-101. Notably, the developed field investigation mini-program can identify all the developmental stages of these five beetle species, from young larvae to adults, and provide timely management (or protection) suggestions to farmers. Our findings could be significant for future research related to precise pest control and the conservation of natural enemies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Arthropod Pests in Agriculture)
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Review

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19 pages, 691 KiB  
Review
Biofumigation with Brassica Species and Their Derivatives: A Comprehensive Review of an Innovative Pest Control Strategy Targeting Wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae)
by Luka Batistič, Tanja Bohinc and Stanislav Trdan
Agronomy 2025, 15(4), 967; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15040967 - 16 Apr 2025
Viewed by 781
Abstract
Biofumigation is an eco-friendly agronomic technique that utilizes bioactive compounds from Brassica species to manage soil-borne pests. In our review, we explore it as a sustainable alternative to chemical fumigation, focusing on its potential for controlling wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae). By analyzing existing studies, [...] Read more.
Biofumigation is an eco-friendly agronomic technique that utilizes bioactive compounds from Brassica species to manage soil-borne pests. In our review, we explore it as a sustainable alternative to chemical fumigation, focusing on its potential for controlling wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae). By analyzing existing studies, we assess the efficacy of biofumigation using Brassica plants, with a detailed focus on Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. (Indian mustard) and Brassica carinata A. Braun (Ethiopian mustard), which are rich in glucosinolates (Glns). We also examine glucosinolate decomposition mechanisms, where enzymatic hydrolysis releases isothiocyanates (IsoTs) and other bioactive compounds with pesticidal properties. Our review synthesizes findings from laboratory bioassays, semi-field experiments, and long-term field trials to evaluate the impact of these biofumigants on wireworms, soil health, and broader pest management strategies. Additionally, we discuss how biofumigation may disrupt wireworm feeding behavior while improving soil structure and microbial activity. Despite its promise, several challenges may influence the effectiveness and adoption of biofumigation, including the variability in field efficacy, soil interactions, and barriers to large-scale adoption. We emphasize the need for future research to refine biofumigation applications, enhance IsoT stability, and integrate this method with other pest control strategies to ensure its sustainability in wireworm management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Arthropod Pests in Agriculture)
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