On the 4th and 5th of February a meeting of IRAC India was held in Delhi. In addition to the members of the IRAC India team there was active participation from IRAC International, IRAC Asia and Croplife India. The goals of the workshop were to establish working priorities for IRAC India in both the short term and the long term, ensuring that prioritised insecticide resistance issues are being addressed and that IRAC India is providing key technical information to support the implementation of insecticide resistance management.
The IRAC India team agreed that development of supporting materials for resistance management in rice and cotton as well as specifically for the invasive pest fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) were the key priorities and therefore an action plan was developed. The inclusion of mode of action icons on product labels and development of effective communication pathways to growers and retailers were also identified as key priorities that the team will work upon.
On the second day the group were joined by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, the Farmers’ Federation, Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Central Institute for Cotton Research to gain further insights on how to support and communicate the implementation of insecticide resistance management.
IRAC have just published the latest version of the MoA Classification, now incorporating bio-insecticdes. In addition the English version of the MoA Poster with the chemical structures and the small MoA Booklet have also been updated printed copies are now available.
In South Africa, it will be critically important to have a harmonised approach to IRM for FAW across the industry and across technologies. This approach should combine a clear and simple structured refuge policy which does not confuse growers between the requirements for FAW and maize stalk borers in South Africa, and which enables a high grower compliance. There are several commercialised Bt-products in South Africa which are very similar. This approach is in the best interests of the seed industry, growers and South African consumers. The new guidelines have now been published on the IRAC website.
A video from CropLife International and the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) that explains the importance of mode of action as the basis for effective and sustainable resistance management to preserve the utility and diversity of available insecticides and acaricides. The video can be viewed in English or watch it in Spanish, Mandarin or Portuguese.
The application of an insecticide to the soil, either as a seed treatment or as a direct application, is designed to either control soil borne insect pests or provide systemic control of pests above the ground. The general principles of resistance management apply to seed and soil treatments, as with foliar applied insecticides, however there are some additional factors that should be considered as outlined the the latest statement from IRAC titled: IRAC International statement on the resistance management considerations of utilizing soil & seed applied insecticides
The new IRAC leaflet has been designed in conjunction with CropLife International providing growers with essential information on insect resistance management and the significant benefits for growers. The leaflet is in English at the moment but an editable version will be available shortly so that it can be translated into the local languages and targeted for specific countries and sectors.
The paper reports on the sensitivity monitoring executed by DuPont and collaborators in Italy, Spain, Greece since 2009 in order to detect possible sensitivity shifts of T. absoluta from baseline sensitivity to the diamide insecticide chlorantraniliprole (MoA group 28). The results of the 2014 bioassays revealed the first cases of T. absoluta resistance to diamide insecticides in South-East Sicily. The potential integrated control strategies are discussed, aiming to prevent further directional selection of resistance alleles via the adoption of stringent IPM strategies inclusive of reasoned IRM/MoA alternation programmes.
Chemical insecticides can be applied to conventional and transgenic crops expressing insecticidal proteins. When conducting a pest management program, it is important to take into account IRM considerations for both the transgenic trait (i.e. refuge adoption) and the chemistries being employed (both foliar applied and seed treatments). The IRAC Statement lists the key factors that should be considered when assessing the IRM value of applying the chemical insecticide.