ANRV363-EN54-14 ARI 23 October 2008 12:19 Insect Pests of Tea and Their Management Lakshmi K. Hazarika,1 Mantu Bhuyan,2 and Budhindra N. Hazarika3 1Department of Entomology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat 785013, Assam, India; email:
[email protected] 2Entomology Laboratory, Medicinal, Aromatic and Economic Plant Division, North-East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR), Jorhat 785006, Assam, India; email:
[email protected] 3College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat-791102, Arunachal Pradesh, India; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2009. 54:267–84 Key Words First published online as a Review in Advance on tea ecosystem, integrated pest management, biological control September 11, 2008 The Annual Review of Entomology is online at Abstract ento.annualreviews.org Globally, 1031 species of arthropods are associated with the intensively This article’s doi: managed tea Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze monoculture. All parts of 10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093359 the plant, leaf, stem, root, flower, and seed, are fed upon by at least one Copyright c 2009 by Annual Reviews. pest species, resulting in an 11%–55% loss in yield if left unchecked. All rights reserved There has been heavy use of organosynthetic pesticides since the 1950s 0066-4170/09/0107-0267$20.00 to defend the plant against these pests, leading to rapid conversion of innocuous species into pests, development of resistance, and undesirable pesticide residues in made tea. As a result of importer and consumer concerns, pesticide residues have become a major problem for the tea industry. Integrated pest management (IPM) may help to overcome the overuse of pesticides and subsequent residues.