Resistance Management and Sustainable Use of Agricultural Biotechnology

Crop biotechnologies deployed worldwide primarily possess traits for herbicide resistance, insect resistance, or both. While the economic and environmental benefits of these traits can be significant, they are threatened by evolution of insect and weed resistance. Failure to develop successful resistance management strategies will, not only deprive current adopters of the benefits of crop biotechnology, it will also have a powerful negative demonstration effect on regions contemplating biotechnology approval. This paper reviews the features and performance of resistance management strategies for insect-resistant (IR) and herbicide-resistant (HR) transgenic crops. Key factors determining success are technology attributes and institutional capacity. Trangenic IR and HR crops will be more sustainably deployed if they are embedded in integrated pest management (IPM) and integrated weed management (IWM) with strong, outward extension linkages to farmers and backward linkages to research institutions. Public and private plant breeding can play a critical role in developing stacked traits that reduce overreliance on single chemical compounds. While extension plays an obvious role in disseminating information, it can also serve two other important functions. First, it can facilitate farmer collective action for area-wide resistance management. Second, it can provide government agencies with information needed to increase the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of resistance management regulations. The paper concludes by discussing current capacity constraints and future institutional capacity needs of developing countries for successful IPM and IWM.

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