Chemical and Non-Chemical Control in Stored Product Protection: Modern Methods for Old Problems

Dear Colleagues,

Durable agricultural commodities, such as cereal and legume grains, dried fruits, and nuts, are vulnerable to insect infestations during storage that are responsible for high qualitative and quantitative losses. To manage insect pests in post-harvest systems and improve food security, a wide spectrum of control strategies have been proposed against stored-product insects, ranging from the application of contact insecticides and fumigants to non-chemical, “green” management methods. However, the development of resistance to chemical insecticides, as well as the phase-out and ban of active ingredients that were until recently widely used, renders the evaluation of alternative chemical and non-chemical control measures a necessity for stored-product protection. In this context, the focus of this Special Issue is on the recent advances in chemical and non-chemical control of stored-product insects related to (but not exhausted by) the following:

• Chemical control of stored-product insects (contact insecticides, fumigants, etc.);
• Non-chemical management of storage insects (modified atmospheres, heat treatment, mating disruption, application of inert dusts, botanicals, etc.);
• Trapping and monitoring of storage insects;
• Precision fumigations.

Therefore, we kindly invite you to submit your manuscripts to this Special Issue, which aims to highlight recent research carried out to mitigate post-harvest losses and control storage insects.

Dr. Christos I. Rumbos
Dr. Paraskevi Agrafioti
Prof. Dr. Christos G. Athanassiou
Guest Editors

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