Large scale application of chemical pesticides to reduce the crop losses caused by insect pests and diseases, valued at over US$250 billion annually, has not only led to serious environmental hazards, but has also resulted in development of resistance to pesticides in pest populations. It is in this context that crop varieties capable of resisting pest damage will play a vital role in reducing ...

Resistance to spinosad insecticide in field populations of diamondback moth was discovered at Kunia, Hawaii, in November 2000, about two and a half years after its introduction. Leaf-dip assays of field populations from the islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii confirmed moderate to high levels of resistance compared with pre-introduction baselines. Resistance occurred despite label restrictions tha...

In practice, agricultural films must withstand high solar radiation, high temperature in use, mechanical stresses on the film (e.g., film tension across supports, wind), and most importantly, the antagonistic effects of agro-chemicals (pesticides, insecticides, fumigants, soil disinfectants, etc.) on the performance of the UV light stabilizers protecting the film. With pesticide usage, especial...

Increases in severity and frequency of drought periods, average global temperatures, and more erratic fluctuations in rainfall patterns due to climate change are predicted to have a dramatic impact on agricultural production systems. Insect pest populations in agricultural and horticultural systems are also expected to be impacted, both in terms of their spatial and temporal distributions and i...

The degradation of terrestrial and aquatic environments has significant adverse effects on biodiversity environmental sustainability. ever-increasing population constant economic growth strain various ecosystems’ resistance resilience. An important factor that negatively influences ecosystems is the use products used in crop management. In this article, we analyze pesticide-related European Dir...

After more than 70 years of chemical pesticide use, modern agriculture is increasingly using biological control products. Resistances to conventional insecticides are wide spread, while those to bio-insecticides have raised less attention, and resistance management is frequently neglected. However, a good knowledge of the limitations of a new technique often provides greater sustainability. In ...

The 973 Program is China's keystone national research program established to support basic research in natural and physical sciences. In addition to promoting the development of core technology and scientific infrastructure needed to enable China to meet the social and economic challenges of the 21st century, the training and mentoring of the new generation of China's young scientists are also ...

This manuscript presents the synthesis and structural characterisation of novel biodegradable polymeric controlled-release systems of pesticides with potentially higher resistance to weather conditions in comparison to conventional forms of pesticides. Two methods for the preparation of pesticide-oligomer conjugates using the transesterification reaction were developed. The first method of obta...

Soil arthropod pests are those which live in the soil and cause economic loss to humans. Root maggots, wireworms, whitegrubs, termites and ants are important soil pests. Insecticides are used for the management of these pests and the buffering capacity of soil makes difficult for these pests to be managed and warrants high concentration of pesticides with repeated applications. This increases t...

The rapid evolution of toxin resistance in animals has important consequences for the ecology of species and our economy. Pesticide resistance in insects has been a subject of intensive study; however, very little is known about how Drosophila species became resistant to natural toxins with ecological relevance, such as α-amanitin that is produced in deadly poisonous mushrooms. Here we performe...