PREDICTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURAL INSECT PESTS VIS-À-VIS FOOD CROP PRODUCTIVITY: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Abstract

Climate change is a broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases called greenhouse gases to Earth’s atmosphere. Insects are poikilothermic animals and thus sensitive to climate warming. Global warming and climate change will trigger major changes in diversity and abundance of arthropods, geographical distribution of insect pests, population dynamics, insect biotypes, herbivore plant interactions, activity and abundance of natural enemies, species extinction, and efficacy of crop protection technologies. Climate change also will have severe impacts on insects, especially honeybees, which pollinate crop plants and thus affect crop production highly. Combined effects of these will increase the extent of crop losses, and thus, will have a major bearing on crop production and food security. Prediction of changes in geographical distribution and population dynamics of insect pests will be useful for adapting pest management strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on crop production. This paper summarized the different ways in which climate change impacts on insect pests and will increase the extent of crop losses. Governments should respond to climate change both by reducing the rate and magnitude of change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), and by adapting to its impacts. Many impacts can be avoided, reduced or delayed by mitigation, but adaptation will be necessary to address impacts resulting from the warming which is already unavoidable due to past emissions. Therefore, there is a need to take a concerted look at the likely effects of climate change on crop protection and devise appropriate measures to mitigate the effects of climate change on food security.