A new pest, coconut lethal yellowing, has devastated coconut trees in the Caribbean and Central America from Mexico to Honduras in the past several decades. 

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... planting with neighbors is usually bet- ter than planting late. Pest populations tend to build in a community during a cropping season and, if they are at all mobile, will move in vast numbers onto late-planted fields ( Figure 35). ...

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... speaking, the big- gest pest populations and worst damage occur in undiversified systems, the most extreme case of these being extensive monocultures ( Figure 44). Diversified farms and farm landscapes, made up of small plots of plants in monoculture (Figure 45), crops that are intercropped, strip-cropped, or al- ley cropped, agroforestry systems, cover crops, forest patches, windbreaks and hedgerows, live fences and barriers ( Figure 46), benefit from the delayed arrival and/or slower increase of pest popu- lations. Fortunately, many small holders live on these kinds of farms. ...

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... before planting high-value vegetable crops and new perennial fruit tree and coffee plantations, the soil pathogen load and density of nematodes and soil-dwelling insects should be evaluated. Simple sampling techniques for soil-dwelling insects have been developed and are often widely adopted by farmers ( Figure 50). Techniques for detecting patho- gens by planting indicator plants in soil samples are available, but require considerable advance planning and investment of time. ...

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... barriers, for example wind-breaks, (Figure 53) can interfere partially with movement of a pest, but rarely is this enough for satisfactory management. ...

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... Figure 54), may resist pests or compensate through sufficient growth for pest damage. ...

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... crop variety that a small holder chooses is, in some crops, the first or only non-chemical line of defense against losses ( Figure 55). Tropical crop varieties resisting or tolerating plant pathogens have been developed far more often than have varieties that resist insects and mites. ...

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... holders tend to use resistant seed and veg- etative material according to their economic means at the moment of planting, but also according to marketing considerations. Pest resistance in a vari- ety is not always positively correlated with market- ability, and small holders are reluctant to choose varieties for pest control reasons when taste, con- sistency, or durability of the product is compromised Especially in the case of basic grains, selection for pest resistance has not always coincided with im- provements in flavor, color, or cooking qualities (Fig- ure 56 crops such as coffee also must consider market demands ( Figure 57). ...

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... holders tend to use resistant seed and veg- etative material according to their economic means at the moment of planting, but also according to marketing considerations. Pest resistance in a vari- ety is not always positively correlated with market- ability, and small holders are reluctant to choose varieties for pest control reasons when taste, con- sistency, or durability of the product is compromised Especially in the case of basic grains, selection for pest resistance has not always coincided with im- provements in flavor, color, or cooking qualities (Fig- ure 56 crops such as coffee also must consider market demands ( Figure 57). ...

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... insect resistance -a number of crops have been modified to produce variants of the insecticidal toxin of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) Figure 57. The coffee variety Catimor, is a heavy yielder and is resistant to coffee rust but is rejected by discriminating coffee buyers. ...

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... hold- ers recognize beneficial insects much more often than beneficial pathogens and the effects they pro- duce on insects, mites, weeds and plant pathogens. (Figure 58). ...

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... the use of broad-spectrum synthetic pesticides is undoubtedly the single most important step toward conserving a robust natural enemy population. Diversifying vegetation in the small hold- ing is related to improving numbers of predators and parasitoids who need alternative food sources such as pollen, nectar and additional insect species, especially during fallow periods ( Figure 59). ...

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... adult female parasitoid lays one or many eggs on, in or near the pest and parasitoid larvae emerging from the eggs slowly consume the pest from within or externally, killing it within a few days ( Figure 64). A predator, by comparison, is an adult or immature invertebrate (or vertebrate, but rarely used as a bio- logical insecticide) that kills the pest much more rap- idly by consuming it directly ( Figure 65). A parasi- toid larva uses just one prey individual to develop to the adult stage, while a predator generally con- sumes many prey before completing its life cycle. ...

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... a project has the opportunity to counsel farm- ers on developing new land, great care should be taken to respect minimum distances from superfi- cial waterways such as springs, streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries. Gallery forest must be left in place and its understory vegetation conserved as a buffer between farmland and the water (Figure 75). Pesti- cide runoff can be minimized with broad bands of vegetation that absorb run-off water. ...