Conservation biological control and IPM practices in Brassica vegetable crops in China

• Natural enemies of insect pests in brassica vegetable crops are numerous in China.
• Major parasitoids have great potential to suppress pest populations.
• The role of natural enemies can be promoted by the use of selective insecticides.
• The strategy of conservation biological control can reduce insecticide input.
• Several successful brassica IPM practices have enhanced conservation biological control.

Brassicas are major vegetable crops in China but the systems for growing the crops are complex. During the last 30 years, the area of vegetable crops has increased steadily, however, the control of insect pests on brassica vegetables has largely relied on the heavy use of chemical insecticides, resulting in high levels of resistance, insecticide residues hazardous to human health and other serious consequences. Nevertheless, efforts to develop practical and sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for brassica vegetables have been implemented. Here we first review the work on surveys of natural enemies of insect pests in brassicas and describe the biology and ecology of a few important parasitoids. We then introduce the progress of conservation biological control by reviewing studies on evaluation of natural enemies and selective insecticides, the work on the development of action thresholds and some successful examples of IPM field trials at the cropping system level. The successful examples of IPM practices in brassicas show the great potential of conservation biological control to reduce chemical pesticide input and improve vegetable production in the future.

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