Implications and management of insecticide resistance in agricultural pests
1999
Irshad, M. (National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad (Pakistan))
The dilemma of pesticide application is interesting. In its initial phases it was a wonder poison for curing many agricultural and health problems and total reliance was placed on it. In the later stages its failures were highlighted and subsequently is being considered mother of many ills. It has been especially criticized for disturbing the ecosystem or environment. Alternative controls are being practiced and proposed but pesticidal use can not be finished or eliminated. There are many side effects of pesticides but resistance problem has been recognized much earlier than other factors. Global realization of pesticidal resistance is now well established. However, in Pakistan the situation is much bleaky. With the quick flow of information many problems are realized but actual data is lacking. In cotton when cotton leaf virus disease started its havoc it was mostly proposed that whiteflies have become resistant to insecticides. However, the available information reveals that no scientific evidence is available for occurrence of resistance. The phenomenon of resistance may be present but without experimental evidence it is not nice to attribute all the debacles to resistance. In this context it seems highly desirable to set up a national insect resistance testing authority. This should ensure in a minimum possible time to map out the resistance populations of serious pests of important crops. Without having sound experimental evidence it is not possible to have sound pesticidal policy in relation to environment, economics and IPM. The effectiveness of pesticidal control is highly dependant on this research in depth and detail.
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