Impact of Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) Strategy on Insecticide Use pattern during Different Growth Stages of Irrigated Cotton in Punjab

Ak Dhawan, Subhash Singh, Sarwan Kumar and Tripat Kumar

Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana -141 004 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 of in insecticidal applications in IRM villages compared to non-IRM ones. The whole crop season was divided into 4 windows 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 imidachloprid, acetamiprid and thiamethoxam were mainly used against sucking pests. Trizophos/ethion, carbaryl/thiodicarb were used for the control of whitefly, American bollworm and tobacco caterpillar while synthetic pyrethrois were used against spotted bollworms. Farmers showed more preference for spinosad/indoxycarb for the control of Americn 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, organophsphates and synthetic pyrethroids declined. However, the use of spinosad/indoxycarb showed an increasing trend. Applicatons of mixtures were reported only in non-IRM villages. The total number of application remained lower in IRM than non-IRM villages.  

In window IV, endosulfan, imidachloprid, thiamethoxam, trizophos/ethion, acephate/chlorpyriphos, spinosad/indoxycarb and emamectiin 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 application showed maximum application of imidachloprid/thiamethoxam followed by endosulfan,spinosad and acephate/chlorpyriphos. The implementation of IRM strategy resulted in 46.9 and 34.5% reduction in insecticide applications in IRM villages over non-IRM ones in 2004 and 2005, respectively.