Given environmental, economic, and social costs of unilateral chemical and biotechnological interventions to control pests, there is an urgent need to transition towards a knowledge-intensive holistic approach emphasizing agroecosystem design and management. The focus will be on what makes agroecosystems susceptible and vulnerable to insect pests, pathogens and weeds, in order to design diversified agroecosystems that prevent and suppress insect pest, pathogen and weed problems.