Pest Management in Hydroponics Crop Production: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

Soilless cultivation, specifically hydroponic structures, is gaining attraction as a sustainable and green opportunity to conventional soil based agriculture. Hydroponic cultivation requires precise parameters adjustments inclusive of temperature, pH, water and nutrient formulations for optimized plant health and productiveness. However, these system have numerous challenges like pest and pathogen attack and further management, nutrient recycling and environmental impact. Therefore, present review discusses the comparative advantages and obstacles of open and closed hydroponic systems, highlighting the susceptibility of closed systems to pathogen spread and vehicle toxicity due to root exudates. The significance of IPM, plant health monitoring and the use of mycorrhizae in greenhouse hydroponic is emphasized in current study. Various strategies for managing the pathogens and toxic compounds in nutrient solutions are evaluated, which include activated carbon adsorption, electro-degradation, semiconductor photo-catalysis, ultraviolet irradiation, hydrogen peroxide treatment and filtration strategies. The article underscores the need for effective, sustainable and scalable treatment procedures tailored to closed hydroponic systems to make sure high productivity even as minimizing the environmental dangers. Moreover, it identifies the opportunities for scientific studies into optimizing the microbial health in substrates and enhancing the overall IPM implementation under controlled environments for sustainable crop production.