Prólogo

SOLONESKI, S.; LARRAMENDY, M. L.

Weed and Pest Control - Conventional and New Challenges

INTECH

Lugar: Rijeka; Año: 2013;

Nowadays chemical pesticides are the traditional solution to weed and pest problems, and although they have saved lives and crops, the greatest risk to our environment and our health comes from their use. The many significant problems from their use include contamination of the environment, the development of pesticide resistance in the target pest, the recovery of pest species, the phytotoxicity in crop fields, and the unacceptably high levels of pesticide/commodity residue in foods. However, there is evidence that unless an improved weed and pest control system is adopted, these problems are expected to become alarmingly acute. Every effort must be made to find alternatives to using chemical pesticides. Each adopted weed and pest control plan should provide maximum benefits while optimizing the cost/benefit ratio. Today, several alternative control methods exist as possible strategies for weed and pest control such as biological control, the development of resistant crop species, the use of physical and mechanical agents, the alteration of cultural practices, the release of genetically modified pests, and the development of chemicals with a narrow spectrum of activity and less persistence in the environment, among others. This book, Weed and Pest Control, aims to provide a basic introduction to the techniques that can be used to control weeds and pests. We wanted to try to compress information from a diversity of sources into a single volume. We believe that it is fundamentally important to have a detailed survey of the most important tools available before deciding on an integrated weed and pest management program. In essence, the content selected for and included in Weed and Pest Control is intended to provide researchers, producers, and consumers of pesticides an overview of the latest scientific achievements to help readers make rational decisions regarding the use of strategies to control several pest animals and weeds that directly or indirectly damage not only agriculture but also our environment. Chapters include background information about the effects of several methods of control on undesired weeds and pests that grow and reproduce aggressively in crops, as well as their management and several empirical methodologies for study. This book covers such alternative insect control strategies as the allelopathy phenomenon, tactics in integrated pest management of opportunistic generalist insect species, biological control of root pathogens, insect pest control by polyculture strategy, application of several integrated pest management programs, irrigation tactics and soil physical processes, and carbon stocks to manage weeds. Many researchers have contributed to the publication of this book. Given the fast pace of new scientific publications shedding light on the matter, this book will probably be outdated very soon. We regard this as a positive and healthy fact. However, we hope that this book will continue to meet the expectations and needs of all interested in the different strategies of weed and pest control.