Reader Comments | Submit a Comment The white paper reports the deliberations of a workshop focused on biotic challenges to plant health held in Washington, D.C. in September 2016. Ensuring health of food plants is critical to maintaining the quality and productivity of crops and for sustenance of the rapidly growing human population. There is a close linkage between food security and societal s...

BACKGROUND Rice-duck cultivation is the essence of Chinese traditional agriculture. A scientific assessment of the mechanism and its capacity is of theoretical significance and practical value in improving modern agricultural technology. RESULTS The duck's secretions, excreta and their treading, pecking and predation decrease the occurrence of plant diseases, pests and weeds, enrich species d...

Growing demographic trends require sustainable technologies to improve quality and yield of future food productions. However, there is uncertainty about plant protection strategies in many agro-ecosystems. Pests, diseases, and weeds are overwhelmingly controlled by chemicals which pose health risks and cause other undesirable effects. Therefore, an increasing concern on control measures emerged...

Agricultural production relies heavily on manmade chemicals used as fertilizers and pesticides, and to regulate plant growth. Pesticides are released intentionally into the environment to control insects, weeds, plant diseases and other pests that affect crop or animal production, as well as to control insects that spread human diseases. Pesticides have a well-established role in agriculture an...

the majority of eriophyid mites are phytophagous and some of them are important pests of plants. however, due to host specificity and other bioecological characteristics seen in members of this family, they are considered as important biocontrol agents of weeds. in order to identify the eriophyid mites associated with important weeds in agroecosystems in razavi khorasan province, during 2010 an...

The evolution of problematic plants, both weeds and invasives, is a topic of increasing interest. Plants that have evolved from domesticated ancestors have certain advantages for study. Because of their economic importance, domesticated plants are generally well-characterized and readily available for ecogenetic comparison with their wild descendants. Thus, the evolutionary history of crop desc...

Extensive economic and environmental damage has been caused by invasive exotic plant species in many ecosystems worldwide. Many comparative studies have therefore attempted to predict, from biological traits, which species among the pool of naturalized non-natives become invasive. However, few studies have investigated which species establish and/or become pests from the larger pool of introduc...

the aim of this study was to comparable application cultural, biological and chemical control methods of pests, diseases and weeds in rice among paddy farmers in sari county. a sample of 260 farmers was selected by using proportional random sampling method. data were collected by means of a questionnaire. validity of questionnaire was confirmed by agricultural jihad experts of sari county and s...