Some agrometeorological aspects of pest and disease management for the 21st century

In the 21st century increasing societal, environmental, and economic pressures will create a changing context for solving agricultural pest management problems. Interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving will be needed to meet goals such as mitigating environmental degradation associated with the use of farm chemicals, and increasing productivity by reducing insect and disease damage to crops, and reducing competition from weeds. Crop system models will provide useful frameworks in which to examine the interrelationships among plants, the pest complex, and the environment to determine the most appropriate management strategies to meet individual and societal goals. Improved techniques for managing pests, such as transgenic plants resistant to pests and diseases, new biological control agents, innovative cultural controls, biological pesticides, and additional information to improve efficacy of traditional chemicals, will require weather data and forecasts in order to be used, and climate information to determine their suitability for use. Climatic change, including global warming and increased variability, will require improved analyses that can be used to assess risks associated with existing and newly developed pest management strategies and techniques, and to gauge the impact of these techniques on productivity and profitability. Control recommendations will need to be evaluated for suitability in the farming system where they are to be implemented. Training in the basics of agrometeorological relationships and pest management disciplines will have to be supplied to agricultural meteorologists, extension personnel involved in this work, and farmers. Research to successfully develop the new technologies and the weather and climatic information required by the technologies must be approached by interdisciplinary teams that include agricultural meteorologists.