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PREFACE Integrated Pest Management IPM aims at judicious use of cultural, biological, chemical, host plant resistance tolerance, physical-mechanical control and regulatory control methods. Agen da 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNCED at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 indentified IPM in agriculture as one of the requirements for promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development. So the goal of sustainable agriculture should be to maintain production at necessary levels to meet the increasing aspiration of an expanding world population without degrading the environment by using more and more chemicals. Biological control also assumes impor tance in sustainable agriculture and organic farming. However, it has several inherent limitations like the availability of natural enemies in sufficient numbers to utilize on a large scale. Secondly, almost all parasitoids and predators do not integrate with insecticides. Therefore, there is a urgent need to develop natural enemies tolerant to multi-pesticidal groups. It is further, necessary to encourage commercial insectaries, which can supply quality natural enemies to farmers at a very short notice. This also calls for developing appropriate shipment technologies and stage of transportation. Besides these, there are pesticidal of biological origin, e.g. viruses, bacteria, fungi, bacloviruses, viz. Nuclear Polyhdrosis Virus NPV and Gramilosis Viruses GV are important and specific in infecting only certain closely related species of caterpillars attacking various crop plants, e.g. tomato and potato. Use of commercial formulation of Bt has been effective in controlling shoot borer of ginegr, turmeric and Metarrhizium sp. and Beauveria sp. in control of root grub of cardamom. Integrated Nutrient Management INM refers to maintenance of soil fertility and plant supply to an optimum level for sustaining the desired crop productivity through optimization of the benefits
from all possible sources of plant nutrients in an integrated manner. It is a holistic approach where we first know what exactly is required by the plants for optimum level of production in what different forms these nutrients can be applied in soil at what different timings, by best possible method, and how best these forms can be integrated to obtain highest productivity with efficiency at economically acceptable limits in environment-friendly way. The decline in crop yield due to continuous use of inorganic fertilizer has been observed throughout the world. Therefore increasing need is being felt to integrate nutrient supply with organic sources to restore the health of soil. Bio-fertilizer offer an economically attractive and ecologically sound means of reducing external inputs and improving the quality and quantity of internal resources. These are less expensive, eco-friendly and sustainable. The beneficial microbes in the soil, which are of greater sig nificance to horticultural situation, are the biological nitrogen fixers, phosphate solubilizers and the mycorrhizal fungi. To fulfil the requirement of undergraduate and post graduate horticulture