Introduction

Abstract

This introductory chapter deals with the vegetable crops of North America. Numerous types of vegetables are available to the people of the United States and Canada. There is as such no criterion that defines a plant as a vegetable. The chapter presents a summary of fresh market vegetable-production data for the most important vegetable crops grown in the United States. It describes the characteristics of the major vegetable crops. The major vegetable crops, include artichoke, bean and related crops, asparagus, beat and related crops, carrot and related crops, cabbage, lettuce, okra, rhubarb, squash, onion, sweet corn, tomato, and sweet potato. The chapter also discusses the major insects that injure and damage the vegetable crop plants. About 300 species of insects are documented to be the pests of vegetable crops. Insecta is a major class of animals and subdivided into major groups called orders, and is further subdivided into smaller groups of like organisms called families. The occurrence of vegetable pests among the orders of insects is more or less proportional to the total number of species in each order. The chapter presents data on the number of species in each order inhabiting the Unites States and Canada. The noninsect invertebrate pests include the members of class Acari, Collembola, Isopoda, and Gastropoda. The chapter also deals with both pests and the pest management.