The book discusses planthopper pests of rice. These insects are the most destructive pests, threatening food security around the world. The historical development of the rice planthopper problem shows that they are secondary pests and single-discipline control tactics or strategies are not able to manage them, and instead can cause frequent outbreaks. This book not only presents new approaches to this persistent problem, but also new ecological methods, new perspectives on the effects of pesticide marketing, insights into developing resistant varieties and structural reforms in pest management systems. Integrating biological, ecological, economic and sociological aspects, it clearly presents the latest information on newly developed strategies for managing these pests.

Dr. K.L. Heong was an insect ecologist and a principal scientist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. He is now a senior advisor in the Centre for Agricultural Bio-Sciences, South East Asia in Malaysia. He has been researching rice planthoppers for more than 30 years. Dr. Heong is a fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia.

Professor Jiaan Cheng is an insect ecologist who has been studying rice planthoppers for about 50 years. He is a professor at Zhejiang University, China.

Professor M.M. Escalada is a communication scientist who has been studying farmers' pest management decisions and practices for more than 25 years. She works at the Visayas State University in the Philippines.

Zusammenfassung

The book discusses planthopper pests of rice. These insects are one of the most destructive pests, threatening food security around the world. The historical development of the rice planthopper problem shows that they are secondary pests and single-discipline control tactics or strategies were not able to manage them, and instead caused frequent resurgences. This book not only presents new approaches to this persistent problem, but also new ecological methods, new perspectives on the effect of pesticide marketing, insights into developing resistant varieties and structural reforms in pest management. Integrating biological, ecological, economic and sociological aspects, it clearly presents the latest information on newly developed strategies for managing this pest.

Dr. K. L. Heong is the principal scientist and insect ecologist at the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines. He has been researching rice planthoppers for more than 30 years. Dr. Heong is a fellow of the Third World Academy of Science and the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia.

Professor Jia-an Cheng is an insect ecologist who has been studying rice planthoppers for about 50 years. He is a professor at Zhejiang University, China.

Professor M.M. Escalada works at Visayas State University.

Inhalt

Rice Planthoppers in the Past Half Century in China.- Planthopper Outbreaks in Different Paddy Ecosystems in Asia: Man-made Hopper Plagues that Threatened the Green Revolution in Rice.- Addressing Planthopper Threats to Asian Rice Farming and Food Security: Fixing Insecticide Misuse.- Rice Planthoppers in Tropics and Temperate East Asia: Difference in Their Biology.- Herbivore-induced defenses in rice and their potential application in rice planthopper management.- Mechanisms of rice planthopper resistance to insecticides.- The big picture: prospects for ecological engineering to guide the delivery of ecosystem services in global agriculture.- Rice Pest Management by Ecological Engineering: A Pioneering Attempt in China.- Are there productivity gains from insecticide applications in rice production?.- Social impacts of planthopper outbreaks in Thailand.- Future planthopper management: Increasing the resilience of rice systems.