**1. Introduction**

116 Oilseeds

Zhao-Hui, W.; Sheng-Xiu, L. & Sukhdev, M. (2008). Effects of fertilization and other

*Agriculture*, Vol. 88, No. 7, (2008), pp. 7-23.

agronomic measures on nutritional quality of crops. *Journal of the Science of Food and* 

Oilseeds occupy an important position in agriculture and industrial economy. So, management of pest problems and using possible control techniques could increase the quality and quantity of the products.

A large variety of pests damage oilseeds and cause significant losses in the farms or storages. Among which insect pests are a significant factor in the economics of oilseed production. There are also several vertebrate pests such as rats, slugs and birds.

An extensive review of oilseed pest has been conducted by numerous national research programs in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, United Kingdom, United State and etc.

Pests of oilseeds can be classified according to the different factors such as taxonomic grouping, feeding habitat, distribution. Within each groups, the pest status may vary with country, year and season depending on species, variety, cropping system used. Some of the pests may attack a certain type of oilseed; the others are generalists and can feed on a variety of crops. Pests with different feeding habitat could have either chewing or sucking mouthparts. Pests with chewing mouthparts eat parts of the crops such as flowers, foliage, stems, roots or buds. They may only eat portions of leaves, leave holes in the leaves (flea beetles), cause bud abscission, reducing yield of the pods and leaf area, earlier leaf abscission, delayed owering (weevils) or bore into stems and roots (borers).

Pests with sucking mouthparts such as aphids, bugs, thrips, whiteflies, mites, and jassids usually cause the plant to discolor or twist and curl. The plant may discolor from tiny yellow speckles (spider mites), larger darkened spots (plant bugs), reducing the canopy area of the plant, and therefore its photo-synthetic capacity, coatings of black sooty mold growing on honeydew deposits or transmitting viruses (aphids and whiteflies).

Also, several pests may attack oilseed crops occasionally or their populations don't exceed threshold levels.

Protection of the crops from pest's infestations and keeping the pests under proper control has become in consideration due to the importance of the crops. Pest management is done by different methods such as cultural control, biological control, physical control, host plant resistance and assessing the economic thresholds to determine the need to apply pesticides (chemical control). By doing one of these methods, farmers can protect their farms and agricultural produce. However, integrating two or more control techniques to manage one

Oilseed Pests 119




**IPM program:** IPM attempts to find the optimum combination of control tactics including cultural, biological, physical, and chemical control that will reduce pest population below the economic threshold. IPM is a safer, usually less costly and reduced-risk option for

The life cycle of the pests, damage and economic thresholds depend on many factors (crop stage, crop age, socio-economic, climatic conditions and etc.) and cannot be adopted without consideration to local conditions. So, descriptions of each pest are gathered from available literatures and researches depending on the importance of the crop and invasive pests.

**Conclusion:** at the end of this chapter we could identify the pests and beneficial species community on the oilseed crop, distribution of them on the crop and have information about the infestation. After considering safety, effectiveness, environmental effects and cost of each method; we choose the best method for protecting the crops and minimizing pest's

The oilseed crops listed in this chapter are 1) cottonseed, 2) groundnuts, 3) soybean, 4)

*Gossypium hirsutum* L.: known as upland cotton or Mexican cotton, native to Central

*Gossypium barbadense* L.: known as Creole, Egyptian, South American, Pima or Sea

*Gossypium arboreum* L.: known as tree cotton, native to India and Pakistan (less than

*Gossypium herbaceum* L.: known as Levant cotton, native to semi-arid regions of sub

Organic cotton: grown in subtropical countries such as America and India (growing at a

Island cotton, native to tropical South America (8% of world production).

organisms, environmental contamination and flaring secondary pests.

effective for controlling some pests.

and their injuries to the crop.

effective pest management.

problems.

**2. Cottonseeds** 

2%)

(blowing or vacuuming tools) to the detriment of pests.

mustard, 5) sunflower, and 6) safflower, respectively.

There are five commercially grown species of cotton:

America and Mexico (90% of world production).

Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (less than 2%).

rate of more than 50% per year) (Wikipedia, 2011a).

crops, fertilization, and cold and heat treatments are strategies that may be highly

or more species of the same group of pests as an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) program prevent pests from causing significant losses, encouraging natural enemies, saving money while producing a high quality product, enhance the agricultural productivity and usually has the highest probability of cost effectiveness (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. IPM diagram

In this chapter, the order of presentation is firstly related to the oilseed crops. Although the importance of crops differ from region to region but some most prominent crops are cotton seeds, groundnuts, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, soybean, sunflower, linseed and castor. Secondly, within each crop, the pests are presented by taxonomic groups; attempt to help you identify the common or special pests. Subsequently, the life cycle, monitoring, economic importance, action thresholds of the pests and methods for keeping pests under control are given. In summary the best management program as IPM will be introduced.

The format for a full entry is:

**Oilseed crop**: Common and scientific name of oilseed crop.

**Pests:** arranged by taxonomic order.

**Identification:** Size of insect and distinctive coloration.

**Life cycle:** the pest's life cycle, habitat, habits, damage stage and detection of the pests.

**Monitoring**: monitor and detect significant populations of the species.

**Economic importance and action thresholds:** number of pests, density, etc. at which a pest becomes an economic threat and control is essential. The action level also depends on costs and the economic benefits of treatment.

**Control:** different methods can be used to control pests such as cultural control, biological control, physical control, host plant resistance and chemical control.


or more species of the same group of pests as an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) program prevent pests from causing significant losses, encouraging natural enemies, saving money while producing a high quality product, enhance the agricultural productivity and

In this chapter, the order of presentation is firstly related to the oilseed crops. Although the importance of crops differ from region to region but some most prominent crops are cotton seeds, groundnuts, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, soybean, sunflower, linseed and castor. Secondly, within each crop, the pests are presented by taxonomic groups; attempt to help you identify the common or special pests. Subsequently, the life cycle, monitoring, economic importance, action thresholds of the pests and methods for keeping pests under control are given. In summary the best management program as IPM will be introduced.

**Life cycle:** the pest's life cycle, habitat, habits, damage stage and detection of the pests.

**Economic importance and action thresholds:** number of pests, density, etc. at which a pest becomes an economic threat and control is essential. The action level also depends on costs

**Control:** different methods can be used to control pests such as cultural control, biological


usually has the highest probability of cost effectiveness (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. IPM diagram

The format for a full entry is:

**Pests:** arranged by taxonomic order.

and the economic benefits of treatment.

**Oilseed crop**: Common and scientific name of oilseed crop.

**Monitoring**: monitor and detect significant populations of the species.

control, physical control, host plant resistance and chemical control.

**Identification:** Size of insect and distinctive coloration.

crops, fertilization, and cold and heat treatments are strategies that may be highly effective for controlling some pests.


**IPM program:** IPM attempts to find the optimum combination of control tactics including cultural, biological, physical, and chemical control that will reduce pest population below the economic threshold. IPM is a safer, usually less costly and reduced-risk option for effective pest management.

The life cycle of the pests, damage and economic thresholds depend on many factors (crop stage, crop age, socio-economic, climatic conditions and etc.) and cannot be adopted without consideration to local conditions. So, descriptions of each pest are gathered from available literatures and researches depending on the importance of the crop and invasive pests.

**Conclusion:** at the end of this chapter we could identify the pests and beneficial species community on the oilseed crop, distribution of them on the crop and have information about the infestation. After considering safety, effectiveness, environmental effects and cost of each method; we choose the best method for protecting the crops and minimizing pest's problems.

The oilseed crops listed in this chapter are 1) cottonseed, 2) groundnuts, 3) soybean, 4) mustard, 5) sunflower, and 6) safflower, respectively.
