The lab strives to understand ecology of and develop control measures of insect pests of rice, sweet potato, citrus, lychee, longan, pineapple, mango, and wax apple. The research activities consist of the investigation of insect pest species and their infestation, understanding of population dynamics, estimation of the extent of damage and economic loss, forecasting of the outbreaks, development of outbreak forecasting models, appropriation of control timing, screening of effective pesticides, improvement of pesticide application methods, selection of insect resistant varieties, detection of diseases due to viruses transmitted by insect vectors, and establishment of integrated pest management measures. Towards the control measures that secure economic benefits, food safety and ecological balance, the current research focuses on: 1) development of integrated pest managements for lychee and longan; 2) understanding of ecological conditions conducive to insect pest outbreaks in major fruit trees and development of their prevention measures; 3) survey of potential insect vectors of the diseases caused by stolbur phytoplasma; 4) implementation of long-term monitoring of rice insect pests; and 5) survey of pineapple’s major insect pests and development of control measures.
