Abstract

About 86 of the 75 million ha of the forests of India are tropical and plantations constitute about 4 million ha. Over 100 species have been tried in plantations but only about a dozen account for most of the area. Most pest problems have been noticed in plantations and a few in natural forests. A profile of the problems in plantations of 10 most important species, viz., Tectona grandis, Eucalyptus spp., Dalbergia sissoo, Bombax ceiba, Shorea robusta, Ailanthus spp., Gmelina arborea, bamboos, Swietenia macrophylla and Albizia falcataria is given. It is shown that most species suffer damage from at least one serious pest and that instances of successful conrol under typical forestry conditions are rare. Present constraints to effective pest management include the small number of forest entomologists compared to the large number of problems, their inadequate training in quantitative ecological methods and lack of adequate organizational and infrastructural facilities for field