Quinoa pest management across continents: lessons from Andean systems and emerging production systems in North America

Szczepaniec A.; Cruces L.; Panwar N. · Frontiers in Agronomy (2026) · DOI: 10.3389/fagro.2026.1868962

Resumen

Quinoa has expanded rapidly beyond its Andean center of origin because of its high nutritional value and tolerance to drought and other abiotic stresses. However, as production has spread into new agroecosystems, quinoa has also been exposed to novel pest complexes that threaten sustainable production and require regionally adapted integrated pest management (IPM). In this Perspective, we contrast pest pressures and IPM development in long-established Andean production systems with those emerging in North America, with emphasis on how crop expansion reshapes herbivore communities and management needs. In the Andes, quinoa has a long co-evolutionary history with key pests, and management has developed within diversified, low-input systems that rely heavily on cultural control and compatibility with natural enemies. In contrast, quinoa production in the United States is relatively recent, and its pest complex is still assembling. We highlight parallels and contrasts between these regions and discuss how tools such as phenology models, cultural tactics, host plant resistance, conservation biological control, pheromone-based monitoring, and endophytic entomopathogenic fungi may strengthen quinoa IPM across production systems. We also identify persistent gaps that limit progress across both long-established and emerging quinoa production systems, including underdeveloped economic thresholds, limited predictive frameworks, and insufficient understanding of natural enemy contributions. Rather than attempting a comprehensive global review of quinoa pests, this Perspective uses quinoa as a comparative case study to examine how pest complexes and IPM needs differ between long-established Andean production systems and newer production regions, especially in North America. Copyright

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina