Aphid Management in Crop Systems: Current Strategies and Future Perspectives

Aphids are major agricultural pests worldwide, causing crop damage both through direct piercing-sucking feeding and the transmission of plant viruses. Their multistage life cycle, unique developmental physiology, plasticity in developing pesticide resistance, and multifaceted interactions with host plants and bacterial endosymbionts make effective control particularly challenging. In this review, we summarize the current toolbox available for aphid control across major crop systems, including chemical pesticides, biological agents, plant resistance, cultural practices, biorational control, and emerging strategies such as RNA interference (RNAi) and symbiosis-targeted approaches. Rather than providing an exhaustive survey of the literature, we draw on conceptual and illustrative studies to critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of each control strategy. Finally, we outline future directions for aphid control, highlighting the potential of modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic biology, data-driven analytics, and CRISPR-based genome editing, to expand and improve existing control options.