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Resistance management for sustainable agriculture and improved public health

Crop Protection Team News

  • Insecticide Mixtures and Resistance Management  – Updated Guidance

    The combined application of two insecticides with different modes of action (MoA) is an increasingly common approach to insect pest management. Insecticide mixtures (tank-mix or pre-formulated mixture) are applied to crops for pest management for many different reasons. These reasons include to broaden spectrum, to combine different technical characteristics of insecticides, or to combine two modes of action to control species where single compound applications do not provide sufficient control. Mixing insecticides, may also offer a benefit for insecticide resistance management (IRM). In the guidance document IRAC presents an up-dated mixture statement and the key considerations supporting it.

  • 57th IRAC International Meeting, 14-17th March 2023, Japan

    The 57th IRAC International Meeting was held in conjunction with IRAC Japan and IRAC Asia in Kyoto. This incorporated a visit to the Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology in Osaka where IRAC presentations were given in a seminar sponsored by the Japan Crop Protection Association on 14th March. Further meetings took place during the week as follows:

    • 15th March: Meeting of the IRAC Executive and Crop Protection  teams
    • 16th March: Seminar at Kyoto university followed in the afternoon by meetings with IRAC Japan
    • 17th March: Focus on IRAC Asia with presentations and discussion with various Country Teams

  • Latest updates to the MoA Classification

    New versions (10.5, March 2023) of the IRAC MoA resources have just been released and posted on the website. The changes include the following updates:

    • Group 29: Renamed to  “Chordotonal organ nicotinamidase inhibitors”.
    • Group 36: A new MoA Group which contains the active Dimpropyridaz, and is named “Chordotonal organ modulators – undefined target site”.
    • Dicloromezotiaz, previously, in Appendix 6 (active ingredient pending registration), has been moved to Group 4E, Mesoinics, within Group 4, “Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) competitive modulators”.
    • The new peptide, U1-AGTX-Ta1b-QA, has been classified as “Unknown or uncertain MoA – subgroup UNP (peptides of unknown or uncertain MoA)”  and has been added to the Classification Scheme, Appendix 6, pending registration.

    The updated resources, available for download from the IRAC website, are:

  • A new Bt corn brochure: Integrating Bt corn for fall armyworm (FAW) management

    The IRAC Plant Biotechnology Working Group has completed a short poster brochure discussing the use of Bt corn to manage fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in the Asia-Pacific region.  The brochure complements IRAC’s poster and brochure developed in 2021 entitled “Manage fall armyworm in 3 steps”.  The 3 steps are 1) Incorporate agronomic actions, 2) Identify pest and decide when to treat, and 3) Control FAW using IRM principles.  The main IRM principle relayed in this brochure is the rotation in modes of action across sequential pest generations.  While this 3 step process is effective for most countries in the Asia-Pacific region where crop protection tools are readily available, Bt corn is an important tool that also may be used by farmers in much of the Americas as well as in an increasing number of countries where fall armyworm has recently invaded like South Africa, Philippines, Pakistan, and Vietnam. 

    The Bt corn brochure is entitled “Integrating Bt corn for fall armyworm (FAW) management”.  Effective Bt hybrids against fall armyworm are available and we want to ensure that farmers follow insect resistance management guidelines to maximize long-term benefits of the technology.  This brochure also discusses a simple 3 step process:  1) Plan, 2) Plant refuge & monitor, and 3) Evaluate & Treat.  The purpose is to be proactive in building an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan to use multiple tools and tactics against FAW founded on the host-plant resistance provided by Bt traits.  Our goal is for farmers to be able to understand what a non-Bt refuge is, why it is important, and how to incorporate it when they plant a Bt corn hybrid.  We also advise farmers to scout their fields and determine the need to incorporate additional control tools, such as insecticidal sprays, if indeed economic population levels of FAW arise in their Bt and non-Bt corn fields.

    The new brochure is posted here and was developed in conjunction with CropLife International and with feedback from many contributors. If you have questions regarding this educational brochure supported by IRAC, please contact  Alan Porter at enquiries@irac-online.org.

  • New IRAC, HRAC and FRAC Global Resistance Management Mode of Action App

    The new Global Resistance Management (GRM) Mode of Action App, released earlier this year by the Resistance Action Committees (IRAC, HRAC FRAC), has just been updated with additional features. The App combines the information on the Resistance Action Committee’s standalone Mode of Action Apps into one application for ease of access by the user. The individual IRAC, FRAC and HRAC Mode of Action Apps are still available and all applications can be downloaded from the Apple App and Google Play stores.

  • IRAC Vietnam takes up the challenge to improve farmer IRM

    For farmers in Vietnam, the agricultural environment is very dynamic. Changes in weather patterns, consumer behavior, the availability of labor, the availability of crop protection products, and the crop pest patterns, require farmers to adjust their agricultural practices to sustain and improve both crop quantity and quality. Badly adopted cultivation practices can lead to increasing problems with insecticide resistance.

    Farmers in Vietnam (VN) are experiencing increasing insecticide resistance, rendering their efforts in crop protection inefficient even though they can choose between more than 1500 different insecticide brands, which represent over 600 different active ingredients. If the offer is so diversified, why are farmers running into trouble? The key question is, how to decide which product to use? Interviews with farmers reveal that most believe that they should rotate different products, for insecticide resistance management (IRM).

    This shows that farmers are clearly lacking available, essential IRM guidance.

    • For rotation, farmers need to know how to select best-fit products, among dozens of hundreds of available insecticides brands, to use.
    • Product rotation should be associated with insect generations and the product’s mode of action (MoA) which is indicated by IRAC group numbers.
    • The product MoA should be printed on product labels in a standardized manner, including essential information on IRM, as proposed by IRAC and CropLife International. So far, MoA labelling is still only optional for VN manufacturers.

    IRAC VN, in association with CropLife VN, are engaging to help farmers to better manage insecticide resistance in the future and planning to:

    • be fully committed to comply with IRAC guidance (MoA icon, IRM statement)
    • encourage all VN pesticide manufacturers to implement MoA labelling practice
    • engage the VN Government agency to make MoA labelling mandatory
    • create online IPM, RM, RAC guidance resources in Vietnamese
    • establish train-the-trainer programs together with CropLife VN, government agencies, and other stake holders to increase IRM awareness and practice

  • Latest MOA Classification Update

    The latest edition of the scheme, version 10.3, has now been published which includes some minor changes to the earlier versions.

    Download the latest Mode of Action Classification.

  • IRAC MoA Group 30 IRM Guidelines Published

    IRAC MoA Group 30 insecticides (GABA-gated chloride channel allosteric modulators) are a new class of insecticide chemistry with first registrations in agriculture made during 2018. They represent a valuable resource for the control of insect and mite pests in many agricultural and horticultural markets and therefore it is considered essential to develop IRM guidelines to maintain their effectiveness through sustainable use.

  • IRAC Mode of Action Posters and Brochure updated

    The MoA posters with the chemical structures for insecticides/acaricides and for nematicides and the small MoA brochure (now including nematicides) have been updated to correspond with the latest versions of the IRAC MoA Classification. The documents can be downloaded from the website and printed copies will be available in early 2022. The insecticide/acaricide poster is in English but other language version are in preparation.

  • Updated guidelines for rotating seed treated, soil and foliar applied insecticides

    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. There are limited insecticide modes of action available for use either as soil or seed treatments, therefore, the judicious use of the available modes of action is essential for sustainable control of the insect pests targeted by these applications. The updated IRAC guidelines provide more information.

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