Agriculture needs Fresh Approach to Tackle Growing Problem of Insect Resistance to Biopesticides, New Analysis finds

Mar 13, 2023

Insect pests which attack crops have extraordinary powers to develop resistance to greener pesticides and a new way to manage resistance risks is needed, according to analysis by University of Stirling scientists.

For more than 70 years, agriculture's response to pesticide resistance has been to seek new pesticides in an endless race to keep up with evolving pests.

Researchers now propose a new way to step off this treadmill as farmers embrace the ongoing green revolution in pest control by switching to biopesticides derived from natural organisms.

The evolution of resistance to biopesticides—a crucial tool in the development of sustainable crop protection—has huge implications for food security worldwide as the global population grows.

In a bid to address this emerging challenge, researchers have deployed principles from fundamental evolutionary ecological science and proposed a practical framework for managing the risks of biopesticide resistance evolution.

They suggest that farmers can help manage resistance risks by planting a wider diversity of crops and use multiple biopesticides.

Scientists from Stirling's Faculty of Natural Sciences, working with colleagues at the University of Gothenburg and São Paulo State University, conducted a synthesis of existing biopesticide research and argued that resistance evolution is already occurring and is likely to become widespread as biopesticide use continues to increase.

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Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.