Agricultural Intensification's Impact on Crop Damage and Aphid Dynamics for Sustainable Pest Management

Social pressure to produce more food, in addition to economic uncertainties and climate change, is continually compelling farmers to have embraced innovative crop production methods. However, persistent use of resource-intensive farming methods by farmers in an attempt to produce an abundance of food grains has led to deteriorating ecosystem services and functions as well as decreased soil health. Agricultural intensification is one such method, which entails increasing fertiliser input within fields and expanding cropland at landscape scales, meanwhile leading to biodiversity loss and the decline of natural enemies of agricultural pests such as aphids. Nevertheless, it can also be used constructively to inform sustainable and improved pest management strategies. Therefore, the present work has been proposed to review and examine the effects of agricultural intensification on crop damage patterns and aphid population dynamics from the perspective of their constructive use for sustainable pest management. This review will be of great interest to agricultural professionals working in the same area to understand the different strategies and constructively use agricultural intensification practices for improved pest management strategies.