About a hundred insect pests attack millets in the field and during storage. Some are common throughout the millet growing areas. Stem borers and grain midge are of regular occurrence. White grubs are important in India. Spike worms have recently become serious in the sub‐Sahelian zone of West Africa. Sporadic attacks of blister beetles, armyworms, grasshoppers, chinch bugs, leaf beetles, head caterpillars and head bugs result in severe yield losses in certain seasons. There is a higher incidence of storage pests in the rainy season. Research on pest management needs to be intensified. The tactics differ with the pest complex and the agroecosystem. However, a combination of cultural practices and resistant cultivars have proved to be effective. Multiple pest resistance has become more important in order to reduce insecticide use, common in pest endemic areas and during outbreaks. The exchange of genetic material and research information can provide an interdisciplinary approach to pest management in millets.