Because of Singapore’s population density, conventional pest management techniques, such as in the use of chemical insecticides, may not be appropriate or effective for the city’s urban farms in the long run. Several pest species in Southeast Asia have already been reported to be resistant to insecticides.

In order to create effective, resilient crop protection strategies based on ecological principles and learning from systems-level approaches, it is crucial to assess the local biogeographical distribution of pest population, species, their characteristics and disease potential.

Here, we propose methods that depend on elucidating the complex web of interactions between pests, their plant hosts, the microbiome and the wider ecosystem. We can then quickly create ecologically informed pest management strategies using what we know about these specific pairs of correlations.  We will provide a powerful platform for discovering pest and microbial communities linked to susceptible crops and this platform will allow for the rapid development of novel microbial and chemical solutions.