Dear Colleagues,

Food security is serious issue that is inevitable at some time in future. This is because of shortage of area under cultivation, climate change effect, pesticide resistance in insect pests, resurgence of secondary pests as primary pests and economic crisis in the world. Agricultural produce suffers heavy losses each year lack of improved crop technology, unavailability of quality seed germplasms, illiteracy, intercropping, weeds, unavailability of sufficient water for irrigation, old fashioned farming and tillage implements and used of outdated farming techniques. Owing to this, major crops like wheat and other cereals generate poor harvest which is not only insufficient to help the economy of a country but are even sometimes unable to return the basic input cost. In this backdrop it is necessary to inculcate modern cropping technology, introduction and use of good quality seeds with improved characteristics and pest management for major insect pests causing losses in vegetative phase of crops but also during storage of agricultural commodities.

Cereals grains like wheat, rice and corn are among the staple food items in various parts of the world. Safe storage of cereals is highly important. Resistant or less susceptible varieties are of particular interest for resource poor developing as well as developed grain exporting nations. Elite cultivars having good yields and acceptable storage characteristics are of worth exploitation as additional tool to grain protection strategies. Sack storage of cereals is common but it is not without problems. Insect pests easily attack and damage stored cereals grains inside storage places. Management of storage insect pests is vital for safety of stored produce. Among the management practices include use of improved storage bags, use of grain protectants, fumigant application inside airtight storage containers and warehouses and temperature management of storage insect pests.
As it is extremely important to manage insect pests’ infestations in stored cereal grains to avoid losses due to attack of storage insect pests, therefore we welcome all kind of important research focused on management of storage insect pests

Sincerely

Dr. Muhammad Waqar Hassan
Associate Professor
Department of Entomology
Faculty of Agriculture and Environment
Islamia University of Bahawalpur
Section Editors