Impact of Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) Strategy on Insecticide Use Pattern during Different Growth Stages of Irrigated Cotton in Punjab Dhawan AK1, Singh Subash2, Kumar Sarwan3, Kumar Tripat4 Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004 1 Correspondence: dhawan@satyam.net.in
2subashent@gmail.com
3sarwanent@yahoo.com
4tripat_pau@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 15 October, 2011. Abstract The Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) strategy was devised and followed at farmers’ fields in 20 villages each in Bathinda, Mansa and Ferozepur districts of Punjab during 2004 and 2005 on cotton crop. Various resistance management strategies were disseminated to the farmers throughout the crop season. Its impact was studied on the pattern of use and reduction in insecticidal applications in IRM villages compared to non-IRM ones. The whole crop season was divided into 4 window period. In window I, endosulfan was used as first spray in IRM villages in both the years as it is safe to natural enemies while farmers in non-IRM villages used other insecticides also in addition to it. In window II, chloronicotinyls such as imidacloprid, acetamiprid and thiamethoxam were mainly used against sucking pests. Triazophos/ethion, carbaryl/thiodicarb were used for the control of whitefly, American bollworm and tobacco caterpillar while synthetic pyrethroids were used against spotted bollworms. Farmers showed more preference for spinosad/indoxacarb for the control of American bollworm. No insecticidal mixtures were used in IRM villages in both the years but in non-IRM. The total number of applications remained lower in IRM than non-IRM villages. In window III, the use of chloronicotinyls, organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids declined. However, the use of spinosad/indoxacarb showed an increasing trend. Applications of mixtures were reported only in non-IRM villages. The total number of applications remained lower in IRM than non-IRM villages. In window IV, endosulfan, imidacloprid/thiamethoxam, triazophos/ethion, acephate/chlorpyriphos, spinosad/indoxacarb and emamectin benzoate were commonly used insecticides in IRM villages whereas in non-IRM villages other insecticides and mixtures were also used in addition to these. The pattern of insecticidal application showed maximum application of imidacloprid/thiamethoxam followed by endosulfan spinosad and acephate/chlorpvriphos The implementation of IRM strategy resulted in 46.9 and 34.5% reduction in insecticidal applications in IRM villages over non-IRM ones in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Top Key words Cotton, Insecticide Resistance Management, sucking pests, bollworms, tobacco caterpillar. Top |