Ch. 1: Major Threats on the Insect Pollinators in India

ABSTRACT:- Insects are the most common pollinators. Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, and beetles are common among pollinators. All economic plants including cereals, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, and forest trees mostly depend for their reproduction on these pollinators. Reports say the threat to them is because of habitat loss, climatic stress, invasive flora and fauna! encroachment, chemical pesticides, exposure to competition, starvation, etc. The objective of writing this chapter is to introduce different types of threats to pollinators, affecting factors, challenges in the future, and their restoration. Integrated pest management (IPM) can play an important role in the protection of pollinators. It can include continuous research work, awareness programmes, and the development of pollinator pro systems. It can be climate-smart agro-horticultural management, pathogen-disease control management, the introduction of natural predators to control pests, and minimizing the application of chemical pesticides.