Preface Plants encounter a wide range of environmental insults during a typical life cycle and have evolved mechanisms by which to increase their tolerance of these through both physical adaptations, biochemical changes molecular and cellular changes that begin after the onset of stress. Environmental rudeness faces by the plants in the form of abiotic and biotic stress that seriously reduces their production and productivity. Approximately 70% of crops could have been lost due to both abiotic and biotic factors. Variety of distinct abiotic stresses, such as availability of water (drought, flooding), extreme temperature (chilling, freezing, heat), salinity, heavy metals (ion toxicity), photon irradiance (UV-B), nutrients availability, and soil structure  are the most important features of and has a huge impact on growth and development and it is responsible for severe losses in the field and the biotic stress is an additional challenge inducing a negative pressure on plants and adding to the damage through herbivore attack or pathogen. Multiple stress exposure gives a possible outcome that Plant system develops tolerance to one environmental stress may affects the tolerance to another stress, for example, after exposure of plants to abiotic stress leading to enhanced biotic stress tolerance, wounding increases salt tolerance in tomato plants.  In tomato plants, localized infection by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) induces systemic resistance to the herbivore insect Helicoverpa zea.

Cereal crops are interchangeably called grain crops. In many publications and correspondence, they are simply called grains or cereals. As of 2012, the top 5 cereals in the world ranked on the basis of production tonnage are rice (paddy), wheat, maize (corn), barley and sorghum. These crops are also among the top 50 agricultural commodities in the world with maize ranking second next to sugarcane. Rice (paddy) ranks third, wheat - 4th, barley - 12th, and sorghum - 30th. Another cereal, millet, ranks no. 42 (FAO Stat 2014, updated Aug. 18, 2014). According to Chapman and Carter (1976), “a cereal is generally defined as a grass grown for its small, edible seed.” They also explained that all cereals are angiosperms, monocots, and members of the grass family Gramineae. Similarly, Lantican (2001) defines cereal or grain crops as agronomic crops belonging to the grass family Gramineae or Poaceae which are utilized as staples; the word “cereal” is derived from the most important grain deity, the Roman Goddess Ceres. Among the food grains cereals occupies for most status in human food requirements. Cereals are grown under different agro-climatic (Upland, Low land & Rainfed) conditions and it is most important staple food of about 65% of Indian population. Cereals crop is attacked by a large number of insect pests right from initial to till the harvest of the crops. Brief descriptions of the major crops, major insect pest and appropriate control measures are given below:

India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world, accounting for 33 per cent area and 25 percent production. Pulses are mostly grown under rainfed conditions in marginal to sub-marginal lands. Once a net exporter it is presently one of the largest importer of pulses as our demand outstrips domestic production. While the traditional cropping pattern almost always included a pulse crop either as a mixed crop or in rotation, the commercialization of agriculture has encouraged the practice of sole-cropping. As a result, the annual import has increased from 0.50 million tonnes to 1.80 million tonnes during the last five years and contribution of pulses in the national food basket reduced from 17% to 7%. Pulses are generally grown on marginal and sub-marginal lands under rainfed conditions with low inputs and suffer heavily due to biotic and abiotic stresses, resulting into low productivity. Challenges for pulses in India are decline in area of pulses, low genetic yield potential, low realized yield, instability in production, climate change, biotic and abiotic stresses, poor seed replacement rate, post harvest losses, wide fluctuation in price, no regular MSP/procurement policy, poor availability of critical inputs in productivity zone and poor transfer of technology.

The oilseeds crop occupies an important position in agriculture economy in the world. Indian agriculture has made considerable progress, particularly in respect of food crops such as wheat and rice in irrigated areas; however, performance has not been so good in case of other crops particularly oilseeds, pulses, and coarse cereals. Therefore, after achieving self sufficiency in food grains the government is focusing attention on these agricultural commodities. On the oilseeds map of the world, India occupies a prominent position, both in regard to acreage and production. India is the 4th largest edible oil economy in the world and contributes about 10 percent of the world oilseeds production, 6-7% of the global production of vegetable oil, and nearly 7 percent of protein meal. This sector also has an important place in the Indian agricultural sector covering an area of about 26.5 million hectares, with total production of over 25.3 million tonnes in the triennium ending 2015-16 (GOI, 2016). This constitutes about 14.8 per cent of the gross cropped area in the country. A wide range of oilseed crops is produced in different agro-climatic regions of the country. Insects-pests are one of the limiting factors in the production of oilseed crops. Management of these pest problems by using possible control techniques could increase the quality and quantity of the products. These crops are damaged by a more number of insect pests, of which some are more serious. These pests can be effectively controlled by the integration of different techniques such as use of various safe insecticides/biopesticides, some modification in cultural practices and use of pest tolerant varieties. Integrated pest management approaches will help to increase the production and productivity of oilseed crops by reducing the pest damage without any adverse effect on the agro- system and erosion in the environment.  Pest wise information of oilseed crop and management of major pests are described below.

Vegetable is an important constituent of Indian diet. India is the second largest producer of vegetables which contributes 16.7% to global vegetable area with a production of 156.33 million tons (15.4%) (Table 1). The level of productivity of vegetable17.4 tons/ha is quite low (Rai et al., 2014). Majority of Indians are vegetarian, with a per capita consumption 135 g per day as against the recommended 300 g per day. It is still very less than recommended diet level. In near future, there is a need of around 5-6 million tons of food to feed our 1.3 billion Indian population expected by the year 2020 (Paroda 1999). The major biotic stress in vegetable production is due to increased insect pest. In many cases, there is 100 per cent yield loss due to viral diseases vectored by insects. Vegetables are more prone to insect pests and diseases mainly due to their tenderness and softness as compared to other crops and virtual absence of resistance characters because of intensive hybrid cultivation. The insect pests inflict crop losses to the tune of 10-30 per cent in vegetable production (Table 2). To overcome these losses farmers used indiscriminate doses of toxic chemical on vegetable. It accounts for 13-14 per cent of total pesticides consumption, as against 2.6 per cent of cropped area (Sardana, 2005). For the benefit of the farmer and other, application of BIPM is must. Bio intensive pest management involves every part of management that keeps pest below economic injury level so that pest does not cause any economic loss to the farmers or growers.

Vegetables constitute a substantial part of human diet supplying vitamins and minerals, in which other food materials are deficient. India has emerged out as the second largest producer of vegetables in the world. More than 25% of fruits and vegetables are damaged by the attack of insect-pests (Pradhan, 1964).Vegetable crop is damaged by both sucking as well as chewing insect-pests. Sucking pests are aphids, whitefly, jassids and bugs attacking in initial stage whereas chewing pests like borers, infesting in flowering and fruiting stage. Sucking pests may transmit the viral diseases which cause severe loss in yield in tomato and okra crops. About 13-14 % of total pesticides used in the country are applied on vegetables. Average pesticide consumption in vegetables in India around 0.678 a.i. kg/ha. Maximum pesticide usage in chilli followed by brinjal, cole crops and okra. Global agro-chemical consumption dominated by fruits and vegetables, accounting 25 % of total pesticide market. Major insect-pests of different vegetable crops and their management are as follows:   Cole crops Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata) and Cauliflower (Brassica olercea var botrytis L) are grown in cold and moist climate. It is rich in minerals namely iron, magnesium, phosphorous and sodium. Cole crops were attacked by number of insect pests and cause heavy economic loss. The major insect pests are described below along with their management:

Okra Abelmoschus esculentus L. Cotton Jassid Amrasca biguttula Ishida (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) Economic importance: Sucking pest cause damage during May to September. Adults are also found on plants such as potato, brinjal, tomato, etc. Mark of identification and life cycle: Adults are about 3 mm long and greenish yellow during the summer, acquiring a reddish tinge in the winter. The winged adults jump or fly away at the slightest disturbance and are also attracted to light at night. Females lay about 15-38 yellowish eggs on the underside of the leaves, embedding them into the leaf veins. The eggs hatch in 4-5 days. Nymphs are wedge-shaped and are very active and complete five instars with 3-5 days in each instars. Adult live for 11days. Nature of damage: Damage to the crop is caused by the adults as well as by the nymphs, both of which are very agile and move briskly, forward and sideways. They suck cell-sap from the underside of the leaves and pass through six stages of growth in 7-21 days. They feed constantly on the plant juice. The pest completes seven generations in a year. Damage symptoms: Injury to plants is due to the loss of sap and probably also due to the injection of toxins. The attacked leaves turn pale and then rust-red. With change in appearance, the leaves also turn downwards, dry up and fall to the ground.

Solanaceous Vegetables Solanaceous vegetables are also infested heavily by several major insect pests. Brinjal Solanum melongena L.   Fruit and shoot borer Leucinodes orbonalis Gunnee (Lepidoptera: Pyraustidae) Economic importance: Most destructive pest of brinjal, found throughout the country. Besides brinjal, the pest is also known to infest potato, bitter gourd, pea pods, cucurbits and other solanaceous etc. The infestation on brinjal can be as high as 70 per cent. The pest is active throughout the year, except in severe cold weather in North India.   Mark of identification and life cycle: Moths wings are white with pinkish or black tings and are ringed with small hair along the apical and anal margins. The fore wings are ornamented with a number of black, pale and light brown spots. Female lays 80-120 creamy white eggs, singly or in batches of 2-4 on the underside of leaves, on green stems, flower buds or the calyces of fruits. Caterpillars are creamy when young, but light pink when full-grown in 9-28 days. Pupate in tough silken cocoons among the fallen leaves with period of 6-17days and adult survive for 2-5days of its life cycle. A single life-cycle takes 22 - 25 days extending up to 74 days during winter and there may be 8 - 12 generations in a year.

A systems approach to pest management based on an understanding of pest ecology is referred to as Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (BIPM). It is more dynamic and ecologically informed as compared to IPM that considers the farm as part of an agro ecosystem. Accurate diagnosis of the pest problem is the first step, which then relies on a range of preventive tactics and biological controls to keep pest populations within acceptable limits. It also considers ecological and economic factors into agricultural system design and decision - making and addresses public concern about environmental quality and food safety. As a last resort, the reduced – risk pesticides are used if other tactics have not been adequately effective. The earlier concept of IPM has failed because of ease of applicability to easy availability of chemical pesticides. Hence, the present concept of BIPM, with more intensive use of biological and other biorational means has emerged. The flexibility and environmental compatibility of BIPM strategies make it useful in all types of cropping system. BIPM would likely decrease chemical use and costs entailing them. BIPM ultimately provides resistance / immunity to the entire system so that no foreign elements (insect pests or disease causing organisms) survive or gain upper hand. BIPM if followed for years shall enhance the natural control system, thus suppressing pest populations below those causing economic injury.

Fruit Flies and Economic Importance Fruit flies belong to order Diptera (true flies) with one of the largest, most diversified and fascinating acalypterate family Tephritidae. These are commonly called as fruit flies due to their close association with fruits and vegetables and are also known as peacock flies because of their habit of strutting about and vibrating spotted and striped wings. Of the 4500 known species of fruit flies worldwide, nearly 200 are considered as pests but 70 species are regarded as agriculturally important throughout the world (Clarke et al., 2005, Schutz et al., 2012). David and Ramani (2011) reported 325 species in the Indian subcontinent of which 243 in 79 genera are from India alone. Important fruits flies damaging fruit crops in India include Oriental fruit fly or mango fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel); peach fruit fly, B. zonata (Saunders); guava fruit fly,  B. correcta (Bezzi); melon fly, B. cucurbitae (Coquillett) and ber fruit fly, Carpomyia vesuviana Costa, whereas important fruit flies in Punjab include B. dorsalis and B. zonata. Important host plants of B. dorsalis are mango, guava, peach, citrus, pear, ber and loquat but most preferred host of B. dorsalis is guava while that of B. zonata are guava, peach, mango, pear, ber, citrus and loquat but C. vesuviana infests only ber (Mann 1990, Sharma et al., 2005, Singh 2008b, Singh 2012, Singh et al., 2014a,b and Singh et al., 2015). Bactrocera dorsalis is considered to be the most damaging and aggressive fruit flies in the world (Leblance and Putao 2000). They are strong fliers and can fly upto two kilometers in search of food (Butani 1979).

Inorganic pest management systems using external inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, high yielding varieties have resulted in increased yields in certain areas, but resulted in ecological degradation hence a decrease in productivity. Under organic farming systems, the fundamental components and natural processes of ecosystems, such as soil organism activities, nutrient cycling, and species distribution and competition are used to work directly and indirectly as farm management tools. For example, crops are rotated, planting and harvesting dates are carefully planned, and habitat that supplies resources for beneficial organisms are provided. Soil fertility and crop nutrients are managed through tillage and cultivation practices, crop rotations, cover crops, and supplemented with manure, composts, crop waste material and allowed substances.   Bio intensive IPM incorporates ecological and economic factors into agricultural system design and decision making and addresses public concerns about environmental quality and food safety. The benefits of implementing bio intensive IPM can include reduced chemical input costs, reduced on-farm and off-farm environmental impacts, and more effective and sustainable pest management. An ecology-based IPM has the potential of decreasing inputs of fuel, machinery, and synthetic chemicals—all of which are energy intensive and increasingly costly in terms of financial and environmental impact. Such reductions will benefit the grower and society.

Nematodes are the most numerous metazoa on earth. They are either free living or parasites of plants and animals. Although currently only about 4100 species of plant parasitic nematodes have been described (i.e. 15 % of the total number of nematode species known), their impact on humans by inflicting heavy losses in agriculture is substantial. Most of the developing countries including India lie in tropical or sub tropical regions where climate is suitable for activity and multiplication of nematodes almost throughout the year. Sandy and warm soils such as found in India other developing countries in the arid zone are very favorable for nematode infection, especially in irrigated areas which are used for crop production continuously. The percentage of crop losses caused by plant pathogens, insect pests and weeds world wide has been estimated to 42% according for $500 billion worth of damage. The estimated overall annual yield loss of world’s major crops due to damage by plant parasitic nematodes has been reported to the extent of 12.3% (Sasser & Freckman, 1987). Estimated losses due to nematodes attack on different cultivated crops all over the world by FAO are around 400 million dollars. Annual crop losses in India is Rs. 242.1 billion. A large number of plant parasitic nematodes have been found associated with pulse crops in allover India but pathogenicity has not been proved for all. Plant parasitic nematodes are one of the most unwanted organisms in agricultural soils. They parasitize the roots of our carefully nurtured crops, reduce their ability to produce yields, make them weak and perhaps vulnerable to many pests and diseases. They reduce the crop yields that may equal those associated with more severe and easily identifiable plant diseases and we do not even realize their presence. Damage to crops by nematodes often goes unnoticed or attributed to other causes such as lack of fertility, deficient soil moisture. Sandy and warm soils such as found in India other developing countries in the arid zone are very favourable for nematode infection, especially in irrigated areas which are used for crop production continuously (Taylor, 1967).

A large number of insect pests are associated with stored grains which are directly related to geographical and climatic conditions. There are different estimates on post harvest losses in food. During storage both quantitative and qualitative losses occur due to insects, rodents, and microorganisms. Almost all the insect species may destroy 10.0 - 15.0 % of grain and contaminate with undesirable odour. These pests also helps in transportation of fungi. Some insect pests initiate damage at the ripening stage of crops and continue during storage. Major sources of infestations are old gunny bags, storage structure and old containers (Pruthi and Singh, 1950). The spread and distribution of stored product pests are facilitated by movement of grains from one area to another and by flight of insect pests as some of the adult insects are strong fliers. The cracks and crevices are probable sites for cross infestation. Nearly one thousand species of insects have been associated with stored products in different part of the world. Majority of insect pests belong to the orders Coleoptera and Lepidoptera (Khare, 1994).