Intercropping Systems and Pest Management in Sustainable Agriculture

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable agriculture, with self-sustaining, low-input, and energy-efficient agricultural systems, has been the centre of attention of many farmers, researchers, and policy makers worldwide. Intercropping is the agricultural practice of cultivating multiple crops within the same space and is an old and commonly used cropping practice that aims to efficiently match crop demands to the available growth resources and labour. To manage insect pests in an eco-friendly manner, a pest-suppressive agroecosystem needs to be considered and can be designed by identifying a suitable intercrop for insect pest deterrence, with a border crop enhancing natural enemy activity by acting as a refugium. The component crops used in intercropping systems differ in morphology, growth, and adaptation, simultaneously growing with a resultant possibility of a better smothering effect on weeds and controlling pests and diseases. Research indicates that insects with a narrow host range, such as pests that only attack cruciferous crops, are more readily reduced in number when host crops are mixed with non-host crops. The diamondback moth, which only attacks cruciferous crops, is an example of a pest with a narrow host range. When a herbivore encounters a plant that it cannot feed on, it must expend additional time and energy searching for an acceptable plant. This reduces the time and energy, as the insect must cause crop damage or deposit offspring, and, in some instances, it encourages the insect to migrate from the area. Insects rely on visual, olfactory, and tactile cues to find host plants. The presence of non-host plants can interfere with an insect’s ability to detect host plants by physically masking the presence of the host plant or by producing volatiles that confuse the insect. In general, the studies of intercropping have indicated that intercropping is a sustainable practice that can improve resource-use efficiency and productivity more than mono cropping and is also very efficient in managing insect pests and triggering the natural enemies of insects species in addition to allowing for low input agricultural practices in a sustainable manner. The importance of incorporating conservation biological control in pest management programmes and using pesticides of biological origin are being realised. In this scenario, understanding the interaction of pests with natural enemies in the cropping systems is vital for the success of sustainable agriculture.

This Special Issue will promote the understanding of intercropping and pest management by providing updated information about the intercropping systems through agronomy, plant physiology, insect‒plant interaction, plant pathology and molecular entomology, nanotechnology, and food science.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Muthugounder Subaramanian Shivakumar
Dr. Karthi Sengodan
Dr. Vasantha-Srinivasan Prabhakaran
Guest Editors

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• intercropping
• integrated pest management
• biological control
• crop protection
• biodiversity
• sustainable agriculture
• agronomy
• nanotechnology
• insect‒plant interaction
• insect‒microbe interaction
• plant growth promoting agents