Pest management in arid and semi-arid horticultural crops

India is bestowed with a varied agroclimatic conditions, having unique comparative advantage for growing most horticultural crops (fruits and vegetables). Horticulture has remained as a serious sub-sector of agriculture and forms an integral part of food and nutritional security, employment generation and enhancing the farm income. The growing economic importance of crops grown in arid regions might be attributed to increasing demands in domestic as well as in overseas markets. The fruit and vegetable crops like ber, datepalm, aonla, lasora , phalsa, ker, kinnow, bael, watermelon/mateera, kachri, snap melon/phoot/ kakadi, long melon/ kakri, round melon/tinda, guar, calabash and ridge gourd are a crucial crops grown in these areas. The productivity is low due to harsh environment (high temperature, low precipitation, high PET, wind velocity), poor soil fertility and salinity. Beside, pests also play a critical role, causing significant loss and adding cost of production. Hence, adoption of their IPM strategies would be highly useful to farmers for successful management of insect pests