and Integrated Pest Management - part - usaid

USE OF Bt TO CONrOIROLTOPICAL INS ECr PESTS
Bt RESEARCH GOALS
We believe that the following are needed in Southeast Asia, and urge
scientists in the region to seriously consider activities that will,
1. Develop region specific IPM programs,
2. Identify and characterize key insect pests,
3. Collect and identify local Bt strains and develop an Asian Bt
germplasm bank,
4. Screen commercial and local Bt strains against key pests,
5. Develop local Bt mass production capabilities, and
6. Set up an international network between Bt-IPM research programs.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Interest in Bt is not only due to its insecticidal qualities, but also to its
ability to selectively kill targeted lepidopterous insect pests without harming
other organisms. It.is also a politically and socially attractive alternative to
chemical insecticides and can be safely applied by relatively untrained, often
illiterate farmers, without the need for elaborate protective equipment. The
research program discussed in this paper hopes to make Bt locally produced,
inexpensive, highly toxic to key insect pests, safe, and an IPM-compatible
insecticide. Several large agricultural donor agencies, including the International
Development Research Center in Canada (local Bt production in Nicaragua),
World Health Organization (local production of B! strain H-14 in several
countries including Thailand and Philippines), and Asian Development Bank are
taking the initiative in supporting this research.
Despite the economic potential and safety benefits from the documented
insecticidal success of rt, relatively little progress has been made in developing
countries to take advanta!,c of this simple technology. Whether Bt will succeed
in Southeast Asia will depend more on reducing the cost through local
production and on the existence of effective IPM programs than on the flilare of
petroleum-based insecticides. It is absolutely necessary that key pests be
identified, thresholds for these pests be established, and simple sampling
methods be developed. The thresholds are needed for effective and judicious use
of aly insecticide and this is particularly critical for this microbial insecticide.
Environmental and human safety hazards from the use of petroleum-based
insecticides are difficult to document but are an important "secondary cost" to the
Asian farmer. The majority of the farmers are extremely poor and it is unlikely
that they would go to a health clinic for any medical problem (Bull 1982). The
pesticide poisoning problem is magnified when one realizes that many pesticides
restricted in most developed countries are readily available to these farmers who
are largely unaware of the hazards. For example, aldicarb and DDT arc sold by
distributors in Northeast Thailand. Many insecticides are repacked locally and
mislabeled. Rice farmers in Northeast and Central Thailand have refused to use
any recommended insecticides because of potential fish poisoning. The
extensive use of insecticidcs has resulted in almost a complete elimination of
rice-fish culture in the Philippines. There are efforts being made both by the
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