This document provides an overview of basic crop protection. It defines crop protection as preventing damage to crops from living or non-living organisms. Pests are defined as biotic agents that can damage crops. The importance of crop protection is outlined as reducing hazards and negative effects on crops, which can lower yields, quality, and market value while increasing costs. Pest management and control requires classifying pests based on biological qualities, life cycles, feeding habits. Insects are classified based on their body structure as having a head, thorax, and abdomen, and their development which can be either complete or incomplete metamorphosis.

1. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SECURITY AND COOPERATIVES
Curse: Certificate in General Agriculture
Module Code: GAT 04106
Module title: Basic Crop Protection
Module Credits: 10.0
1. Difinition:
Crop protection involves all operation associated with prevention of anything being
living or non living organism from damaging crops, therefore crop protection
includes:
-Preventing pest entry
-Existence
-Spread
-Controlling them
-Insect pest
-Pathogens{which cause diseases}
-Weeds
-Vermin’s
-Nematodes
PESTS
Pests are any biotic agent that can cause damage to crop.
Therefore excludes other environment factors like shortage or excess water,
imbalances of nutritional elements, excessive heat, cold, soil reaction.
IMPORTANCE OF CROP PROTECTION
-It reduces hazards
-It reduce negative effects caused by various factors responsible for causing direct
damage or physiological disorder to crops.
1. Reduction in crop yield- mainly due to competition for light, water, and nutrients
in case of weeds direct damage of the economic part as a result of disease and
vermin’s’ attack.
2. Quality reduction
3. Reduction in market value
4. Increased production costs
5. Source of transmission of other crop diseases

2. PEST MANAGEMENT AND THEIR CONTROL
For a successful control programme;
{a} Insects’ classification basing on:
-Biological qualities
-Life cycle
-Feeding habits
-Biting and chewing insects
-Piercing and sucking insects
INSECTS’ CLASSIFICATION
Insects belongs to the class Insect or Hexapod a with several orders under phylum
Arthropod a.
-Head
-Thorax
-Abdomen
Other class under phylum Arthropod a is in class Arachinida.
The adult under this class have:
-Four pairs of legs
-Head
-Thorax are fused
Mites are the only ones which play an important role as pests of most field crops.
Examples:
-Red coffee mites-Oligonychus coffee
-Red cotton mites-Tetranychus terarius
-Yellow tea mites-Hemitarsonemus latus
-Citrus bud mites-Aceria seldoni
4.1.2 BASING ON LIFE CYCIE
-Classification under this is divided into 2 groups
-Complete metamorphosis (Holometabola), Insects undergo 4 growth stages
Egg – Lava – Pupa –Adult/Imago
Examples: Butterflies, Moths, Flies. The young ones at larval stage are quit different
in appearance from the adults
-Incomplete metamorphosis (Hemimetabola), the insects under goes 3 development
stages
-Egg-nymph-Adult
Example: Grass hoppers, Crickets, Thrips, Termites, (Nymphs and adults)
4.1.3. Basing on feeding habit
4.1.3.1.Biting and chewing insencts
These have biting and chewing mouth parts which are characterized by