Growers in Canada can get ahead of insecticide resistance with the help of new resources on ManageResistanceNow.ca. The website, which compiles the most up-to-date knowledge on pesticide resistance in Canadian agriculture, now includes best practices for managing insecticide resistance.

“More than one-third of Canadian growers are concerned about the rise of insecticide resistance in the next few years,” says Pierre Petelle, president and CEO of CropLife Canada. “It’s critical to adopt best practices to manage resistance, both to protect crop yield today and to ensure sustainable production for the future.”

Insecticide resistance is not as common as herbicide resistance in weeds but with that comes a unique set of challenges. For example, because many Canadian growers have yet to see evidence of insecticide resistance in their fields, they may not appreciate the need to manage for the problem now. The new resources highlight the need for proactivity and encourage growers to use a combination of physical, cultural, biological and chemical control measures to keep ahead of the issue.

The IRAC Mode of Action Working Group have developed a set of 74 slides as a MoA tutorial outlining the major mechanisms of insecticide resistance and, explaining with graphics, MoA by the targeted physiology affected using the broad categories of:  Nerve and Muscle, Growth and Development, Respiration, Midgut and Unknown or Non-specific target sites or functions. This is now available in Japanese as well as English

IRAC España ha emitido una alerta sobre resistencias de Ceratitis capitata en cítricos. Desde hace varios años están descritos casos de resistencias de Ceratitis capitata a piretroides (MdA nº 3A), básicos en la estrategia de control de la mosca de la fruta en cítricos, tanto en trampas de captura masiva y/o técnicas de “atracción y muerte” como en cebo durante el periodo de cambio de color de la fruta. La colocación de trampas a inicio de campaña implica que la plaga está expuesta varios meses a un mismo MdA, siendo necesario una alternancia en el MdA de los tratamientos posteriores en maduración.

IRAC España ha emitido una alerta sobre riesgo de resistencias de Bactrocera oleae en olivo. La mosca del olivo (Bactrocera oleae) es junto a Prays oleae la plaga más importante del cultivo. Existen un limitado número de productos autorizados en el control de mosca del olivo, y gran parte de la superficie está en sistemas de Producción Integrada, limitando aún más las herramientas. Tanto en organofosforados como piretroides, principales herramientas de control en la actualidad, ya se han identificado mecanismos de resistencia en poblaciones de campo de mosca del olivo del área Mediterránea.

The IRAC Nematode Working Group is the most recently established IRAC team. The initial objectives of the team were to investigate the resistance risk of nematicides and to develop a mode of action classification scheme similar to that available for insecticides and acaricides.

Both these objectives have now been completed with the publication of the Nematicide Resistance Risk Statement at the end of 2018 and more recently the release of the Nematicide MoA Classification and corresponding MoA poster in September 2019

CropLife formally confirmed the UPL membership of IRAC International on the 23rd August 2019. With the mergers and acquisitions of various crop protection companies, along with the joining of UPL, this brings the number of IRAC International company members to 11. Good representation across the industry enables IRAC to continue providing a global coordinated response to insect resistance management strategies.

The IRAC Mode of Action App in IOS and Android has been updated to include the latest changes to the MoA Classification (Ver. 9.3, June 2019). This incorporates some additional MoA Groups including bio-insecticides. The update also includes some additional features such as an active ingredient search and links to the latest IRAC News on the IRAC website.

Tetraniliprole, a new anthranilic diamide has been added to Group 28 and Spiropidion has been added to Group 23, Tetronic and Tetramic Acid Derivatives. The MoA Classification, the  MoA poster with the chemical structures and the Website MoA Classification have been updated with the new information.

Fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a serious pest in corn, if uncontrolled; this pest can cause a severe damage of the breeding materials of the seed industry at Puerto Rico. One of the tools to manage FAW is the use of insecticides of different modes of action. However, FAW has a tremendous ability to develop resistance. Therefore, monitoring the susceptibility or resistance of FAW to insecticides is critical to establish a successful insecticide resistance management plan (IRM). Monitoring of resistance requires the knowledge of specific methods of insecticide bioassays and analysis of data. Consequently, Michigan State University, IRAC International, and Corteva Agriscience in partnership with PRABIA offered a training course in methods of bioassays for FAW.

The training consisted of classroom training and hands-on laboratory and field experience and reviewed concepts associated with insecticide mode of action and resistance to synthetic compounds.  A review of the theory and practice of laboratory bioassays methods for detection of insecticide resistance including leaf disc (IRAC Method No. 007) and insecticide incorporated diet (IRAC Method No. 020) was performed by the participants. In addition, evaluation of the larval mortality was performed by the participants of this training. Probit procedure from SAS and/or POLO program were used to analyze mortality data of the laboratory bioassays, and results of the data analysis were discussed.

Read the full workshop report

On May 8, the “Meeting of the Vegetable Growers” took place through the Secretariat of Agriculture, Agribusiness, Labor and Development and Municipality of Itapetininga.

The meeting brought together farmers from the region and area technicians to discuss issues related to the control of pests of agricultural importance for cucumber, peppers and tomatoes – mainly addressing tomato moth (Tuta absoluta) and whitefly- (Bemisia tabaci), adequate management, use of chemical products and management of socioeconomic and environmental impacts. Tools and production techniques to empower rural producers were developed for more sustainable production.  IRAC Brazil member, Eng. Agr. Ms. Helvio Campoy, participated as a speaker.