Sustainable Pest and Disease Management in Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable pest and disease managements in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry are essential current and future aspects for a long-term sustainability in nature. This Special Issue cordially invites experts from around the world to submit scientific materials (original research, reviews, and opinions) covering all aspects of the use of less harmful pesticides and/or alternatives to pesticides in pest and disease management programs for agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

In addition, special emphasis is made on:

(i) The biological challenges, costs, and benefits associated with integrating these tactics into more sustainable crop production systems;

(ii) Any technological/biological/conceptual backgrounds of pest and disease management that can be useful in sustainable pest and disease management programs; and

(iii) Any direct/indirect aspects of environmental, economic, and social consequences of the use of sustainable pest and disease managements.

Some more specific examples:

(i) Biological, environmental, and socioeconomic comparisons among sustainable (integrated and organic) pest and disease management programs/strategies or among conventional vs. sustainable production systems;

(ii) Any epidemiological or population biology aspects related to disease and pest forecasting that help to reach a lower annual application of synthetic chemicals;

(iii) All aspects of economic (e.g., cost–benefit analyses, influence of product marketing), environmental (e.g., influence on natural enemies, water quality, soil parameters, wild flora and fauna) and human/social issues (e.g., human health, social behavior) related to pest and disease management in sustainable production;

(iv) Sustainability is also highly promoted in precision agriculture; therefore, all aspects of data collection and/or analyses with, e.g., satellite, drone, remote sensing, hyperspectral imaging or the use of any technical/technological elements for precision agriculture that promote/improve sustainability of disease and pest managements;

(v) Robotics and technologies for protected crops in greenhouse that promote/improve sustainability of disease and pest managements;

(vi) Environmentally friendly pest and disease management in postharvest technologies.

Prof. Dr. Imre Holb
Guest Editor

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability 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 2400 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.