An economic assessment of Insecticide Resistance Management strategies in the Australian Cotton Industry
2017
Hoque, Ziaul | Farquharson, Robert J. | Dillon, Martin | Kauter, Greg
Cotton production in Australia is a high-value industry with about 90% of fibreproduced being exported to Asia, primarily to Indonesia. One aspect of moderncotton production is the heavy usage of insecticide sprays to combat Helicoverpainsects. The high cost of sprays and the public view of the industry regarding itsperceived impact on the environment have led to the development of integrated pestmanagement strategies. The measurement of insecticide resistance within insectpopulations has also prompted the development of insecticide resistance management(IRM) strategies. The aim of the work reported here is to improve the understandingand adoption of IRM strategies by cotton growers. This is pursued by conducting aneconomic assessment of alternative IRM strategies, to be used in an industryextension campaign. A farm-level dataset is used to conduct an initial analysis ofalternative (relatively ‘hard’ and ‘soft’) spray options. The use of entomological andyield simulation models is investigated to pursue other analyses which can more fullyaccount for the multi-period and dynamic nature of the problem. A full social benefitcost analysis would ideally value the environmental off-site impacts of chemical use(albeit lower under IRM), however that task is not attempted here.
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