WERA_OLD60: Science and Management of Pesticide Resistance
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Inactive/Terminating
WERA_OLD60: Science and Management of Pesticide Resistance
Duration: 09/01/2002 to 08/30/2007
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
Maintenance of our present food production and public health systems would be impossible without extensive chemical control of agricultural and medical pests. Along with its many benefits, pest control has costs, one of the most pernicious being the evolution of pesticide resistance. Because it is a natural, evolutionary response of a pest population to strong selection pressure, resistance is a phylogenetically and geographically widespread problem that is increasing in magnitude. Resistance to insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, and bactericides poses greater problems than ever before in agriculture and public health. Moreover, the advent of transgenic pesticidal plants has the potential to significantly increase selection pressures for resistance relative to traditional synthetic pesticides. As a consequence, resistance evolution has for the first time become a consideration in the pesticide regulatory process, both in the U.S. and internationally. Proactive resistance management, a requirement of current registrations, has considerable economic implications for agricultural productivity in this country and abroad.
There are two dimensions to the increase in resistance problems: the phenomenon itself and our need to respond to it. Our continued reliance on pesticides has caused the number of resistant species and populations to grow dramatically. At the same time, there is an increased awareness of this resistance problem from the regulatory community, industry, and other scientists, creating an enormous demand for expert advice and information.
Like many challenges facing modern agriculture, dealing with pesticide resistance requires interdisciplinary approaches. Resistance research and management demands a threefold attack, with separate disciplines aligned along at least three separate axes. The first axis cuts across taxonomic groups: bacteria, fungi, higher plants, and arthropods. Resistance occurs in all of these, but scientists trained to specialize in one group are all too often ignorant of important developments in another. The second axis extends across levels of organization; ranging from the reductionist to more holistic and integrated ends of the continuum. Successfully dealing with resistance requires efforts at virtually all levels of biological organization, including evolution, population and molecular genetics, biochemistry, physiology, and ecology, as well as contributions from studies of economics, rural sociology, and other disciplines. The third is the basic-applied axis. As in other areas of agricultural research, there is a premium for conducting basic research to maximize the speed and utility of its application to the problems that motivated it in the first place.
Because of the extraordinary demands imposed by this interdisciplinary model, coordinated research, education, and communication on resistance are of urgent importance. In the past twelve years, WCC-060 has fulfilled this role as the only fully interdisciplinary group of academic scientists addressing resistance problems at multiple levels and taxa. The scientists associated with WCC-060 now seek renewal of this Western Coordinating Committee under the following objectives.
Objectives
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To facilitate cooperation and exchange of information among disciplines, professional societies, governmental agencies, and foreign countries to increase recognition of the magnitude of pesticide resistance problems and aid in developing regulations that promote sustainable strategies to prevent or delay development of resistance in pest populations.
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To facilitate the operations of action committees with industry participation and the organization and delivery of scientific symposia on the subject of pesticide resistance at regional, national, and international meetings. Our efforts should enhance the effectiveness of such programs and reduce duplication.
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To disseminate information on new developments in resistance. To do so, minutes and activities of action committees, reviews of pertinent literature, and a schedule of upcoming meetings and training courses will be published in an electronically-accessible newsletter.
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To develop educational materials that are accessible through trade journals or targeted workshops that are offered to commodity groups, trade organizations, and regulatory agencies, especially in conjunction with symposia at regional and national meetings.
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To facilitate research collaborations in fundamental aspects of resistance mechanisms, detection and monitoring of resistance in the field, and development of sound recommendations for resistance management and mitigation on a regional level.
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6. To oversee and guide efforts to establish a permanent funding base for activities such as the newsletter that provide service on a national and international level.
Procedures and Activities
Expected Outcomes and Impacts
- The benefits of the continuation of WCC-60's contributions to interdisciplinary, multifaceted approaches to studying and managing pesticide resistance will be twofold. First, direct benefits in combating resistance will accrue. Involvement of entomologists, plant pathologists, and weed scientists from academia and industry, focusing on resistance mechanisms, monitoring, management, and policy issues, will create a synergistic effect that will foster further progress towards solving resistance problems. This should result in a transition from reactive to interactive approaches, in which resistance management aspects are considered in the design of new pest control strategies to circumvent or at least delay resistance development.
- Second will be the impact of this interdisciplinary approach on broader issues in agriculture. In many cases, outbreaks of pesticide resistance have precipitated the crises through which IPM and more sustainable forms of agriculture are being implemented. Dealing with resistance as an issue in
Projected Participation
View Appendix E: ParticipationEducational Plan
WCC-060 will continue to cooperate in the publication of the Resistant Pest Management Newsletter (http://www.cips.msu.edu/resistance/rpmnews/). This newsletter has been published since 1989.
Information generated through the coordinating committee will be incorporated into reports and included in impact statements that are distributed by the nation's Agricultural Experiment Stations.
The coordinating committee will seek opportunities for disseminating educational material through symposia at scientific meetings (e.g., Entomological Society of America, American Chemical Society, Weed Science Society of America, American Phytopathological Society), workshops, and publication of forum articles in journals such as Plant Health Progress to educate consumers and end users of pest control technologies.
Toward the end of the renewal period, the committee will explore opportunities to develop an international symposium hosted through the Agrochemical Division of the American Chemical Society. Such a symposium would be a 10-year follow-up to the ACS Agrochemicals Division Special Conference VI, "Molecular Genetics and Ecology of Pesticide Resistance" which was held in June, 1995.
Organization/Governance
The recommended Standard Governance for multistate research activities include the election of a Chair, a Chair-elect, and a Secretary. All officers are to be elected for at least two-year terms to provide continuity. Administrative guidance will be provided by an assigned Administrative Advisor and a CSREES Representative.
Literature Cited