Adaptation Strategies for Pest e-Book Management in Climate Change Scenarios

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) commenced with the launch of World Wide Web in 1991. India had its first National e-governance plan in 2006 and the launch of ‘Digital India’ project in 2014. Digital India version 2.0 of 2021 aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society by facilitating wider dissemination of knowledge and technological products and processes for inclusive development of our nation in all spheres, and agriculture is not an exception. Transformation in agriculture is a continuous process and evolves with the needs of mankind and technological innovations of human minds on the sidelines of the vagaries of monsoon and climate change. While major components of crop production viz., high yielding cultivars, fertigation and irrigation directly maximize crop yields, crop protection targets to minimise yield losses due to biotic stress factors be it weeds, insects, pathogens, mites, nematodes, rodents, birds and vertebrates under pre- and post-harvest situations. Maximum yield loss to crops is estimated at 33% by weeds followed by insects (26%), diseases (20%), rodents (6%) and others (6-8%) with yield losses higher for fruits and vegetables (4.6-15.9%), followed by pulses (6.4-8.4%), cereals (4.7-6.0%) and oilseeds (3.1-10%) under Indian conditions. Paradigm shifts of pest management have gone through phases of Subsistence, Exploitation, Crisis, Disaster and Integration over decades.