| FOREWORD Bamboos are an integral part of the civilization and tradition in almost all Asian countries. These hardy woody plants with their multifarious uses are mostly harvested from natural forests or village groves. In modern times, however, the pressures exerted by burgeoning populations and expanding industries such as rayon, pulp and paper, have placed considerable stress on the resource base.In response to this, and realizing the immense potential of bamboos, many nations have started facilitating and encouraging the establishment of large-scale bamboo plantations. Insects have been very much a part of bamboo eco-systems, with over 800 species of them identified as bamboo pests. While natural forest systems have a way of keeping pest populations under control, man-made plantations require human intervention to ensure their survival and productivity. As bamboos are now being grown increasingly and intensively in plantations, the need for a better understanding of and an increased vigilance against pests has become essential and urgent. The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) has been aware of this, and considering the extreme paucity of information on insect pests of bamboos in Asia, it made the decision to fund, through the award of an internship, a project that would review these. The project was jointly undertaken by the CAF Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry (RISF), China, and the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), India. This publication Insect Pests of Bamboos in Asia is a result of the project. Extensive literature collection, review and field visits have been undertaken by Wang Haojie and Xu Tiansen of RISF and R.V. Varma of KFRI to prepare an extensive account on the insect pests of bamboos in Asia, to serve as a knowledge base for combating the pests. Several of their peers from different parts of Asia whole-heartedly cooperated in this project. We are delighted to bring out this manual as a testimony to the professional enthusiasm of these scientists and to the effectiveness of networking among scientists. We hope that this publication will mark the beginning of renewed research in the field, particularly on a more exhaustive identification and classification of insect pests and in assessing their impact on bamboo-based economies.
I.V. Ramanuja Rao Cherla B. Sastry Principal Scientist Director General |