Investigating the Effectiveness of Using Sex Pheromones in Population Control and Damage Reduction of Chilo suppressalis

This study determined the role of farmer institutions and government policies on farmers’ behaviour in the use of chemical pesticides. Questionnaire was used in as data collection instrument. The research location was Kolaka Timur (Koltim) Regency that has been cultivating lowland rice since the 1980s and become one of the centres of rice production in Southeast Sulawesi and the majority of the farmers are still dependent on pesticides in pests and diseases controlling in rice plants The population of this study was 273 lowland rice farmers. The sampling technique was by simple random sampling of 20% of the total population so that the sample size is 55 respondents. Descriptive data analysis, Spearman rank correlation analysis, and multiple regression were conducted with the SPSS program. The results showed that farmers’ behaviour in the use of chemical pesticides was not as recommended. External factors that influence the behaviour of farmers in the use of pesticides are the role of farmer institutions in making group rules and so the existence of government policies as the use of chemical pesticides guidelines is recommended.Keywords: Farmers’ behaviour, pesticides utilization, lowland rice, food security

BACKGROUND: Chemical pesticides are known to have adverse impact on human health. However, little is known about the magnitude and factors influencing chemical pesticide use in Cambodia. The study aimed to describe and determine factors influencing chemical pesticide use among farmers in the Eastern part of Cambodia. SUBJECT AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 287 farmers were selected by multistage random sampling proportional to size of the population from 8 communes in the Eastern part of Cambodia. The questionnaire was developed to measure variables under study. A multiple logistic regression was applied to estimate the factors influencing chemical pesticide use. RESULTS: 53.66% of the sample was female. Mean age= 41.01, and SD= 10.8 years old. The average monthly income was 460,000 Riel (112 US$). The illiteracy rate was 15.68%. All of these farmers planted rice, cassava and caisim. 72.13% of all farmers used chemical pesticide. 68.13% of 182 rice farmers used 2,4-D. 92.48% of 133 cassava farmers used glyphosate, and 54.89% used 2,4-D. 71.43% of 35 caisim farmers used fipronil, and 68.57% used malathion. Factors significantly associated with chemical pesticide use were illiteracy (OR= 2.60; 95% CI= 1.02 to 6.62; p= 0.045) and increase in farm size per m2 (OR= 2.12; 95% CI= 1.59 to 2.84; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Chemical pesticide use was very high in Cambodia. Some used prohibited chemical. Illiteracy and farm size affect chemical pesticide use among farmers in Cambodia. Keywords: chemical pesticide use, Cambodia, farmer

Brinjal occupies the major proportion amongst all vegetable crops in India and is vulnerable to many diseases caused by insect-pests, fungus, bacteria and virus. Brinjal production is extensively affected by the insect brinjal fruit and shoot borer. Use of conventional chemical pesticides not only damage environment including the biotic and abiotic components but, also affect human health. Bt Brinjal was developed to combat brinjal fruit and shoot borer that has an advantage minimizing use of chemical pesticides. Extensive biosafety investigations, nutritional studies, substantial equivalence studies, relative toxicity and allergenicity assessment using animal models like Sprague Dawley rats, Brown Norway rats, rabbit, fish, chicken, goats, etc. revealed no significant differences between genetically modified brinjal and its native counterpart. Bt brinjal could effectively control the target pest and was found to be safe for environment and human health. In spite of all the scientific studies, release of Bt Brinjal has been put under moratorium. Indian government has constituted an expert committee to address this issue. In this review we have tried to explore the facts related to Bt Brinjal including its production, use of Bt toxin, use of chemical pesticides in controlling the FSB in native brinjal, along with perspective of public opinion and government initiatives. Key words: Bt Brinjal, agriculture, insecticides, GM foods, agrobacterium, transgenic crops

Rice fields represent man-made semi-aquatic wetlands primed for invasive pests. Monitoring rice field biodiversity using conventional methods, however, is time-consuming and laborious. Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods can provide a fast and effective means to monitor rice field communities and inform management decisions. Our study provides proof-of-concept of rice field eDNA biodiversity assessments, with a focus on native and non-native pests across cultivation phases. We collected eDNA samples from locations in southern Taiwan rice fields during planting and harvesting time, employing eDNA metabarcoding (COI) to detect diverse taxonomic groups. We assigned 77 ASVs across all sites to animal taxa, 34 of which were identified to species. Overall, 18 species were designated as native or non-native (83.3% and 16.6%, respectively), including three major rice pests, Chilo suppressalis (native), Coptotermes formosanus (native), and Pomacea canaliculata (non-native). Cultivation status affected overall diversity, with higher species richness during planting compared to harvesting. No significant differences were observed between native/non-native taxa andbetween cultivation phases. Altogether, we detected a complex environment across trophic levels comprised of both native and non-native agricultural pests using limited sampling effort, demonstrating eDNA analysis as an efficient biomonitoring approach in rice agroecosystems with direct applications for pest, invasive species, and vector surveillance within Taiwan.

Background: The unsafe use of chemical pesticides, along with the lack of appropriate preventive protocols and equipment may damage the health of users. Objective: To determine the knowledge and practice of the safe use of chemical pesticides by farm workers in northern Iran. Methods:The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 farmers in Mazandaran province, in 2017. The data collection instrument was a two-part questionnaire: The first part was concentrated on demographic and agricultural characteristics of the participants; the second part dealt with the farmers' knowledge and practice of the safe use of pesticides. Results: The mean knowledge and practice scores (out of 100) of the participating farmers in the safe use of pesticides were 84.8 (SD 13.5) and 50.8 (13.2), respectively. There was a significant positive correlation (r=0.466, p<0.001) between their knowledge and practice. Wearing protective clothes, while applying pesticides, was among safe practices. Although more than 60% of farmers had a sufficient level of knowledge of the safe use of pesticides, they did not implement their knowledge in practice. There was a significant (p<0.001) association between the education level and knowledge of the safe use of pesticides. Conclusion:There was a significant correlation between knowledge and practices of the safe use of pesticides among farmers in northern Iran. There was a clear know-do gap—although the majority of the participants possessed a sufficient level of knowledge of the safe use of pesticides, they did not implement it in practice.

Biopesticides are perceived as a feasible alternative to chemical pesticides, providing an effective approach to pest management while mitigating the undesirable effects of chemical pesticide overuse. Yet, due to the distinctive attributes of the two types of pesticides, farmers often adopt a combination of both. This study aimed to probe the interdependent relationship underlying the mixed use of chemical pesticides and biopesticides by farmers in the rice–crayfish integrated system (RCIS) in Hubei province, China. We also sought to identify influencing factors and associated consequences of this practice. Given that the adoption of chemical pesticides and biopesticides by farmers is not mutually exclusive, a multivariable probit model was utilized to estimate simultaneous pesticide applications. Survey data from 736 RCIS farmers revealed that 10.50% of the sample farmers employ a combination of chemical pesticides and biopesticides. A substitution relationship was observed between the adoption of chemical pesticides and biopesticides by farmers, whereas no significant complementary relationship was found in the application of the two types of pesticides. The primary motivation for the mixed use of pesticides by farmers is to achieve superior pest control efficacy. Notably, when integrating the use of pesticides, farmers pay less attention to factors such as resource endowments and multiple production objectives. Further analysis indicated that farmers display significant concern for pesticide attributes including insecticidal efficacy, toxicity, insecticidal spectrum, and validity period. The mixed use of pesticides has resulted in a decreased frequency of pesticide application but has escalated the cost. While the mixed use of pesticides elevated the selling price of rice, no significant improvement was observed in yield and output value. The insights garnered from this study offer strategic implications for policymakers on how to enhance the judicious adoption of pesticides by farmers.

Locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) form dense bands and swarms that can cause substantial damage to pastures and crops. And a feature that makes locusts particularly devastating is the ability of migrating swarms to appear without warning in large numbers in previously uninfested areas, overwhelming local crop protection programs. To reduce damage, many governments conduct locust control programs: they aim to begin treating the locusts before they reach crops to try to reduce the size of swarm invasions of cropping areas. Locusts alternate between periods of low numbers (recessions) and very high numbers (plagues). When in low numbers, locusts are quite dispersed, but favorable conditions allow populations to increase and the dispersed locusts undergo a behavioral change where they come together to form bands and swarms. Most locust management programs rely on regular monitoring of locust populations and when bands or swarms are detected, treatment programs begin. But these early intervention programs have the greatest chance of success if they are combined with a reasonably good understanding of the critical factors that lead to population upsurge and of where locusts are more likely to be. When such factors occur, then extra resources need to be made available for survey and treatment. It takes several generations of successful breeding for initial localised outbreaks to reach plague proportions: and the aim is to rapidly find and treat as many of the locusts as possible in each of the generations of increase as part of a strategy of preventive control (la lutte preventive or la lucha preventiva). Such treatments can limit the rate of increase in each generation, reducing the consequent damage when the locusts reach crops. Treatments have relied on the use of various chemical pesticides, and the use of chemical pesticides will continue. But increasing constraints on the use of chemical pesticides mean that alternatives need to be investigated as part of treatment programs to ensure locusts are treated whenever and wherever they are found.

The rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), and the rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenée, are two of the most destructive lepidopteran pests in rice. Since these two pyralid insects overlap in their occurrence in rice paddy fields, farmers prefer to set their pheromone-baited traps together in the rice fields for their monitoring. However, our field observation demonstrated that no male adult of C. suppressalis was captured in traps baited with commercial sex pheromone of C. suppressalis (CCS) combined with commercial sex pheromone of C. medinalis (CCM). To confirm that the C. medinalis sex pheromone component(s) interfere with the attraction of males of the rice stem borers to their conspecific females, single components of C. medinalis sex pheromone combined with CCS in traps were tested in the laboratory and rice paddy field. The results revealed that the two alcohol components in CCM, i.e., (Z)-11-octadecen-1-ol (Z11-18: OH) and (Z)-13-octadecen-1-ol (Z13-18: OH) may cause a significant reduction in capturing C. suppressalis males caused by CCS. We recommend against using these sex pheromones together in the field and suggest that Z11-18: OH and Z13-18: OH could be potential inhibitors or antagonists of C. suppressalis sex pheromone to control the rice stem borer.

The impact of increasing human population, rising food demand, and adverse effects of climate change, viz., changing rainfall pattern, rising temperature, biotic-abiotic stresses, etc., has tremendously affected global food security. In addition, increased anthropogenic inputs from urbanization, industrialization, as well as outrageous use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have posed a severe threat to the sustainability of the agroecosystems. For many decades, the use of chemical pesticides against insect and microbial pests has become an integrative part of agriculture and contributed significantly to the crop improvement. But, their long-term persistence, cytotoxicity, and microbial resistance have resulted negative impact on the biosphere, thus creating pollution of diverse ecosystems, land degradation, and biodiversity losses. For the last two decades, alternate pest management strategies have become the new avenues for controlling pest and diseases in a greener, safer, and eco-friendly manner. The use of biological control agents (termed as biocides) such as both microbe- and plant-based formulations has been known to be the major emerging tool in crop disease/pest management and appealing alternative to the chemical pesticide in sustainable agriculture. Biopesticides employ the use of naturally occurring substances, i.e., living organisms (natural enemies) or their products (phytochemicals, microbial products) or by-products (semiochemicals) that control pests by nontoxic mechanisms, with high targeted activity against causal agents (insects, fungi, weeds, viruses, nematodes, etc.), and nonpersistence in the environment. The use of biopesticide alone or in combination with agrochemicals has become the new tool in crop protection as a part of biointensive integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. Although biopesticides are slowly substituting the chemical pesticides with great promise, its use to the desired extent is lacking; hence insight on such biological agents is a prerequisite. In this chapter, we have summarized the sources of biopesticides, their plant protective mechanisms (mode of action), availability, and status in India, as well as some critical pros and cons of its use.

Agriculture has been an activity practiced by humans since ancient times. In the process of raising many pests that attack plants, farmers have resorted to pesticides especially chemical pesticides to ward off pests. Studies are therefore used to analyze the farmers' perceptions in the use of chemical pesticides to rice field ecosystems. The study uses a descriptive quantitative study to explain the farmers' perceptions of the use of chemical pesticides to rice ecosystems by using a method of direct interviews to farmers by using the questionnaires provided by the ajung district responders. Research data analysis using data interpretation analysis of the farmer's perceptions in the use of chemical pesticides to rice field ecosystems. Studies have shown that farmers use chemical pesticides more often than organic pesticides and that the majority of farmers have a perception that chemical pesticides will not affect rice field ecosystems. From the results of data and analysis, one might conclude that the farmers' perceptions level of the use of chemical pesticides to rice field ecosystems is still low.

Although it is obvious that chemical pesticides may have adverse effects on health and the environment, farmers in our nation frequently use chemical pesticides in crop fields to manage pests. This research work focuses on analyzing farmers’ attitudes towards chemical pesticide application. Using a prepared questionnaire, the study was carried out in several Chapainawabganj sites, and information was gathered from 50 randomly chosen farmers. Appropriate scales were developed to measure the variables. Descriptive statistics, such as mean, standard deviation, range, and percentage, were used to characterize the variables. According to the findings, the bulk of the respondents in the research area was old aged 46%. The findings also reveal that 54% of the respondents do not have a primary school education, 62% of the respondents have a medium-sized farm, 52% of the respondents have high annual income, 90% of the respondents do not have organizational training and 84% of the total respondents have high farming experience of crop cultivation. The study indicates that 76% of respondents had medium knowledge of pesticide application and the use of pesticides was viewed with a moderate attitude by 76% of the respondents. In this study, we find a positive significant relationship between farmers’ knowledge about chemical pesticides and the use of pesticides. Besides, there is also another positive significant relationship between extension media contact and the use of pesticides. Farmers in the research region were found to be more likely to use chemical pesticides to increase productivity by controlling pest attacks. Therefore, the current study could subsidize improving better guidelines aim at applying fewer pesticides in the crop field and improving farmers’ knowledge of the balanced use of pesticides. The extension service providers might educate farmers on the responsible use of chemical pesticides, raise their level of knowledge on the control of insects, and provide alternative ways for insect pest management in the research area.

Chilo suppressalis is an important rice pest. Its control has relied heavily on synthetic insecticides. To reduce the application of insecticides, integrated pest management strategies such as incorporating mating disruption (MD) with insect pheromones are critically needed. A novel aerosol dispenser was evaluated for MD efficacy against C. suppressalis. Laboratory tests revealed that pheromone adsorption on rice plants increased with exposure time (2-10 h) at 0.05 m from the dispenser, but no significant differences were observed at 2 m. Field trials demonstrated a 31% reduction in female pheromone titers of Z11-16:Ald under MD. While mating rates remained unaffected at low adult densities (1 or 5 pairs of adults in a cage), they decreased by 31% at high density (20 pairs in a cage), with the total numbers of eggs laid decreased by 45.5%. MD suppressed the adult populations by 89-100% in the overwintering generation and by 67-100% in the first generation. MD reduced the larval densities by 80-90%, and the number of damaged rice plant by 64-89%, compared to controls. The novel dispenser effectively diffused and retained sex pheromones in rice fields, reducing C. suppressalis female sex pheromone secretion, and mating success. Consequently, the amount of eggs laid by C. suppressalis females in the field was strikingly reduced, leading to decreased number of larvae and reduced damage in rice plants. The findings highlight MD as a sustainable alternative to insecticides for managing C. suppressalis population. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

This research was aimed to analyze: behavior of farmers on chemical pesticides use in chilli crop farming, factors that influence the behavior of farmers in the use of chemical pesticides, and performance of chemical pesticides use by the chilli crops farmers. This research was conducted in Pekon Gisting Atas, Gisting District, Tanggamus Regency. Location of this research was chosen intentionally with the consideration that Pekon Gisting Atas has a number of chilli crop farmers and the circulation of chemical pesticides is more than in other pekon. Census method was used, and there were 33 chilli crop farmers as the research respondents. This research was conducted from October 2012 to May 2013. The methods used in this research were methods of case and direct observation. Descriptive and path analyses were used to analyze data. The results showed that behavior of farmers in the use of chemical pesticides in Pekon Gisting Atas was classified good enough. Factors that influenced the behavior of farmers in the use of pesticides were the farming experience, attitude, and farmers’ household income. The performance of chemical pesticide used by chilli crop farmers was as follows: insecticide, fungicide, bactericide, and herbicide was the types of pesticides widely used to control chilli plant pests and diseases; chemical pesticides was sprayed by farmers on scheduled time regardless of the presence or absence of pests and diseases. Key word: behavior of farmers, chilli, path analysis, pesticides, variability

It has been suggested that the striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), has developed distinct populations inhabiting rice Oryza sativa (Linnaeus) and water-oats Zizania latifolia (Turcz). In this study, we compared several biological traits between overwintering larvae from rice and water-oat fields during the winter of 2010. The parasitism rate was significantly higher in the larvae that overwintered in the rice field than in those that overwintered in the water-oat field. The average body weight of overwintering larvae and the weight of 3-day-old pupae, as well as the number of eggs carried by adult females, were all significantly greater in the samples from the water-oat field. The diapause intensity, defined as the number of days required until pupation by overwintering larvae transferred to 25 °C and L:D 16:8 h, decreased progressively from January to March but decreased more rapidly in the water-oat field. Our results demonstrate differences in the overwintering biology of C. suppressalis larvae from rice and water-oat fields. These differences may contribute to the differentiation and reproductive isolation between host-plant populations in this species.

Recently, severe haze pollution has not only threatened human health and food security, but also seems to have aggravated the unscientific use of pesticides by rice farmers in rural areas of China. Using original data on haze pollution across China, combined with rural household survey data collected from 2014 to 2018, we conducted a detailed empirical study on the effects of haze pollution on pesticide use by rice farmers based on the theory of risk aversion. The empirical results revealed that haze pollution with higher levels of PM2.5 positively impacted the use of chemical pesticides in rice cultivation. More precisely, with each 100% increase in PM2.5 concentrations, the use of pesticide per mu increased by 7.9%, and the average pesticide cost per mu increased by 2.3%. The results were robust to a series of tests that addressed potential endogeneity concerns, including omitted variable bias, measurement error, and reverse causality. We then examined the heterogeneous effects of haze pollution increases on the use of chemical pesticides and found that for rice farmers without rice insurance, haze pollution has a stronger effect on pesticide use and a weaker effect on pesticide cost. However, for rice farmers with more experience in rice cultivation and small-scale rice planting, the effect of haze pollution on pesticide use and cost is relatively small. Our findings provide important policy implications for pesticide risk management in rural areas of developing countries.