Introduction

Food losses due to pests, disease, wild animals, insects and weeds are considerable. It is estimated that 35% of word crop production is lost in spite of pesticide and other control programs. The primary pests are insects, disease and weeds. Losses due to birds and wild animals are low compared to these. A pest may be defined as any living organism or plant causing harm or damage to people, their animals, crops or possessions. The important pests are those, which lead to loss of crop yield or quality, resulting in loss of profits to the farmers and reduced stocks for subsistence or export.