Alternatives to neonicotinoid insecticides for pest control: case studies in agriculture and forestry

Abstract

Neonicotinoid insecticides are widely used for control of insect pests around the world and are especially pervasive in agricultural pest management. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that the broad-scale and prophylactic uses of neonicotinoids pose serious risks of harm to beneficial organisms and their ecological function. This provides the impetus for exploring alternatives to neonicotinoid insecticides for controlling insect pests. We draw from examples of alternative pest control options in Italian maize production and Canadian forestry to illustrate the principles of applying alternatives to neonicotinoids under an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy. An IPM approach considers all relevant and available information to make informed management decisions, providing pest control options based on actual need. We explore the benefits and challenges of several options for management of three insect pests in maize crops and an invasive insect pest in forests, including diversifying crop rotations, altering the timing of planting, tillage and irrigation, using less sensitive crops in infested areas, applying biological control agents, and turning to alternative reduced risk insecticides. Continued research into alternatives is warranted, but equally pressing is the need for information transfer and training for farmers and pest managers and the need for policies and regulations to encourage the adoption of IPM strategies and their alternative pest control options.

Meta-analysis reveals that seed-applied neonicotinoids and pyrethroids have similar negative effects on abundance of arthropod natural enemies

“…That said, our finding is consistent with previous meta-analyses (Naranjo, 2009; Wolfenbarger et al, 2008) that found a negative effect of pyrethroids on predatory arthropods (versus transgenic Bt varieties) of similar magnitude to the negative effect we found for seed-applied neonicotinoids (versus untreated controls). Pyrethroids are the second most widely used class of insecticides in the world after neonicotinoids (Sparks, 2013), and are important alternatives to seed-applied neonicotinoids in North American and European field crops (Budge et al, 2015; Douglas & Tooker, 2015; Furlan & Kreutzweiser, 2015). Their use is therefore likely to increase if, when, and where neonicotinoid use is restricted.…”

Worldwide integrated assessment on systemic pesticides

“…A range of concerns have emerged as to the impacts of neonicotinoids and fipronil on the environment Pisa et al 2014;Gibbons et al 2014;Chagnon et al 2014;Furlan and Kreutzweiser 2014):…”

A worldwide survey of neonicotinoids in honey

“…Impacts on such a broad range of organisms ultimately also affect ecosystem functioning (17). As a result, the pertinence of use of these pesticides is currently being questioned in many countries (18), with a ban now implemented in France, and alternatives proposed (19). However, despite increasing research efforts to understand the patterns of neonicotinoid uses and their effects on living organisms, we lack a global view of the worldwide distribution of neonicotinoid contamination in the environment (18) to evaluate the risk posed to living organisms.…”