Insect pests are recognized as a significant global threat to agricultural
productivity. Preventing and managing insect infestations is critical to minimizing
these impacts. The recognition, categorization, and management of insect pests are
crucial to prevent substantial losses. Employing manual ways to practice the process is
laborious and not as efficient in accomplishing the objective. Traditional pest
management techniques frequently struggle to adapt to the dynamic behaviors of pests,
resulting in considerable crop damage and excessive reliance on chemical treatments.
This ongoing global challenge can be effectively addressed through the integration of
precision agriculture technologies, such as Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), within the framework of Integrated Pest Management
(IPM). RS and GIS technologies have demonstrated significant utility in monitoring
pest occurrences, enabling timely and informed decision-making in pest control
strategies. These tools offer rapid and large-scale access to real-time spatial data on
insect populations, which enhances the effectiveness of IPM practices. The combined
use of GIS, GPS (Global Positioning System), and RS provides valuable spatial
insights into pest population dynamics, enabling surveillance across broad geographic
areas and over time. Moreover, hyperspectral imaging—a cutting-edge form of remote
sensing—further enhances pest detection and classification capabilities. By capturing
data across hundreds of narrow spectral bands, hyperspectral sensors can detect subtle
physiological changes in plants caused by pest stress before visible symptoms appear.
This allows for early intervention, improved pest identification, and more precise
application of control measures, thereby reducing unnecessary chemical usage and improving crop health outcomes. This chapter explores the application of RS and GIS in
IPM, highlighting their role in pest surveillance, outbreak prediction, pest distribution
mapping, and yield loss assessment due to pest attacks. In addition, it introduces the
basic working principles behind these technologies and discusses the emerging role of
hyperspectral imaging in advancing pest monitoring and management.
Keywords: Geographic information system, Integrated pest management, Pest monitoring, Pest mapping, Pest forecasting, Remote sensing, Sensors, Yield loss assessment.
