Enhancing Arthropod Diversity and Sorghum Quality in Northern Jiangsu, China: The Benefits of Green Pest Management Revealed Through Metabarcoding

Sorghum is a key global crop with substantial economic importance. Implementing green pest management for sorghum is crucial for promoting ecological balance and reducing reliance on chemical pesticides. This study assesses the impact of green pest management on arthropod biodiversity and sorghum yield and quality. Over two years, using Malaise trapping and DNA metabarcoding, we found that green pest management significantly enhanced arthropod diversity, increasing species richness by 5.63% and shifting species composition, notably increasing the abundance of Hymenoptera. Although sorghum yield metrics were higher in the green group compared to the chemical control group, these differences were not statistically significant. However, the green group exhibited improved quality with lower crude fat (3.63% vs. 4.08% in the chemical control group) and higher levels of crude protein (9.18% vs. 9.13%), starch (73.69% vs. 73.41%), and amylopectin (98.53% vs. 98.34%). These findings underscore the benefits of green pest management in fostering biodiversity and enhancing sorghum quality. Future research should focus on optimizing biodiversity-driven agroecosystem resilience and scaling these strategies across diverse agricultural systems.