Integrated pest management and pollinator health under controlled environment agriculture

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA), including indoor vertical farming and greenhouse production, offer opportunities unlike any we have seen before in agriculture, gains momentum in the U.S. and around the world in recent years. Although crop production in controlled environment has the potential to generate greater output in crop productivity, there are still many unknown factors that need to be addressed, including plant growth and crop production under artificial lighting, high energy cost, water and waste management, pollinator behavior, pest and disease management, and food quality and safety. With enclosed structure, many insect pests can be largely excluded from protected crop production. However, several pests, including aphids, thrips, whitefly and psyllids, which are also efficient vectors for a number of plant viruses or other pathogens, are difficult to control. Spider mites are additional arthropods that commonly infest crops in CEA. For fruiting crop production (i.e., strawberry and tomato), we may also need to introduce pollinators to a CEA system. Managing multiple pests, while maintaining pollinator health, would require an integrated pest management. The behavior of pollinators and natural enemies may be affected by abiotic and biotic factors. Other unconventional methods of pest control, including ozone treatment, have also been tried. In addition, biotechnologies, including RNAi and gene-editing, offered great promise for pest control in CEA.