Pest-smart strategies for climate-smart agriculture: Solutions for shaping a smarter future

Publication Type

Journal Article

Journal Name

Crop Protection

Publication Date

5-1-2026

Abstract

Climate change is rapidly reshaping agricultural pest dynamics through rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and associated climate variability. This results in pest range expansion, accelerated development, and amplified outbreak frequency. Synthesized evidence across major cropping systems indicates that currently climate-driven pest pressure contributes to 10–30% yield losses in tropical and subtropical regions. The projected increases of 3–12% losses by mid-century, and up to 30–46% losses in staple cereals under ∼2 °C warming have been anticipated if pest management remains poorly adapted. Conventional, calendar-based pest control approaches are increasingly ineffective under such circumstances. This review critically examines climate–pest–crop interactions and proposes pest-smart strategies (PSS) as a climate-resilient evolution of integrated pest management (IPM) within the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) framework. The review synthesizes global evidence on six core elements of PSS: climate-resilient crop varieties, ecological engineering, climate-responsive IPM, pest phenology modelling and predictions, digital and artificial intelligence–driven forewarning, and smartphone-based advisories. Across regions and crops, these approaches demonstrate 20–50% reductions in pesticide use, improved decision timing, delayed resistance development, and enhanced biological control through increased functional biodiversity. Importantly, PSS shift pest management from ‘reactive’ input use to ‘proactive’, knowledge-intensive decision-making, improving yield stability, ecosystem services, and farmer resilience under climate uncertainty. The review identifies persistent gaps in policy integration, microclimate-level modelling, equitable digital access, and context-specific deployment domains. Embedding PSS within CSA programmes offers a scalable pathway to reduce pest-mediated yield losses, strengthen food and nutritional security, and advance sustainable agricultural intensification under climate change.

Keywords

Climate change, Climate-smart agriculture, Ecological engineering, Pest forewarning, Pest-smart strategies, Sensor-based technology

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