Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-l82ql Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-31T04:11:53.719Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Management of tropical forest insect pests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2009

K. S. S. Nair
K. S. S. Nair
Affiliation:
Kerala Forest Research Institute, India
Get access

Summary

In all countries research in forest entomology manages to convey the impression that it produces little that is of direct use to the executive forest officer. The average entomological bulletin with its detailed life-cycle studies, its technical descriptions, its record of discarded theories and incidental experiments does not appeal to his taste. It is either rejected or digested hastily, and the core of practical results remains undetected in the voluminous fruit of the investigation. What the forest officer requires, it has been said, are not life histories, but death histories; not suggested remedies but tested remedies.

C. F. C. Beeson (1924, pp. 516–17)

Pest control, pest management and integrated pest management

‘Pest control’ was the term commonly used in the past for our attempts to limit the damage caused by pests. We tried to kill the pest insects using chemical or other means. In spite of initial success, we soon realized that it was not easy to kill off the insects; they reappeared when the effect of the insecticide waned or developed resistance to the chemicals. Humbled by the success of the pests, we also realized that pests need to be controlled only if they cause economic damage. The term ‘pest management’ was therefore coined to indicate management of the pest population to limit it to a tolerable level. The emphasis was on regulating the population size, not killing all the pest insects, which was impracticable anyway. The concept of ‘integrated pest management’ (IPM) emerged in the 1970s.

Type
Chapter
Information
Tropical Forest Insect Pests
Ecology, Impact, and Management
 , pp. 154 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×