ESA Annual Meetings Online Program
Insecticide resistance: The global problem of insect management
Insecticide Resistance : The Global Problem Of Insect Management
Abdallah M. Albeltagy
Plant Protection Research Institute
Abstract
Food production has become of the utmost importance with the fact that the world population now (May 2012) is estimated to be 7.011 billion people, and it's estimated to be 8.04 billion people by 2025 . There will be a need to supply a larger amount of food crops than is currently produced. Adequate food availability will not be capable without the use of new plant protection strategies such as integrated pest management (IPM), including the use of the most recent technologies [Semiochemicals ( Pheromones and kairomones )], and pesticides only when it's needed, to increase the quantity of crop yields and maintain the highest quality. Based on the intensive and continues use of pesticides, as the only pest control measure, problems of pesticide resistance will continue to occur as a global problem threatens crop production all over the world.
Pest resistance to pesticides is a global problem because the products are an integral component of high-yielding and high quality production agriculture. However, overuse and/or misuse of a pesticide can lead to the development of resistance which can be detrimental to crop production. Pests (i.e., insects, weeds, pathogens, etc.) can develop resistance by different types of resistance mechanisms but the major factor for the development of resistance is the randomize use of pesticides without any management procedure. When few products are used for an individual pest control action within a particular crop system, chemical control options are very limited. Therefore, the same pesticide(s) is used repeatedly and continual selection pressure is placed on the pest. This problem is exacerbated when the pest has multiple generations in a single year and each generation is exposed to the same pesticide.
There are both financial and environmental costs associated with pesticide resistance. Pest resistance leads to higher rates and more frequent applications of pesticides required to achieve satisfactory control. Yield losses are likely to occur even after increasing pesticide use because of its failure to control the target pest. It's estimated (2005) that the costs of pesticide resistance in the Unites States only, to be approximately $1.5 billion annually.
Surveys of pesticide susceptibility among pest populations is a proactive approach to monitor , detect and manage any shift in the insecticide performance and provide an early warning to modify chemical control programs, throughout the IPM different strategies, tactics, techniques and procedures. By modifying overall IPM strategies, the viability of a given pesticide can be extended for long time with high efficiency against the target pest, which in turn, is important for agriculture to continue to provide enough food and fiber for the world increasing population and consumers. This review focuses on the insecticide resistance problem, its history, mechanisms, financial , environmental and fitness costs, monitoring , detecting and management techniques, especially the use of what so – called " The attracticide resistance monitoring technique " and " The attracticide efficacy assaying technique " .
