Management of resistance to pesticides in cotton pests

Abstract

In recent years, nationwide insecticide resistance management (IRM) strategies in Zimbabwe, Egypt and Australia have successfully overcome existing resistance problems on cotton and prevented further outbreaks in some key pests. These strategies, which rely heavily on pragmatic assumptions regarding the efficacy of counter‐measures and the biology of the pest, relate little to theoretical models of resistance management whose tenets have so far not been experimentally appraised. These IRM strategies are compared with a simple but rigid programme used throughout Francophone countries of Africa that has successfully controlled the pest complex on cotton and increased yield without eliciting resistance in any pests. We examine the motivations, philosophies and logistics of these control programmes on cotton, and outline scope for improvements to existing and future IRM.