Implementation and Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Approaches in Latin America: Challenges and Potential

Latin American countries present diverse agricultural systems, ranging from the subsistence agriculture in common property lands to large highly mechanized estates that produce crops for export. Despite this diversity, the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) is commonly based on reducing the negative effect of pesticides on consumer health and on the environment. In most of Latin American countries, the agricultural sector is characterized by poor infrastructure in research and extension systems, a public sector with limited human resources that limits the dissemination of information and provides inappropriate credit and subsidy schemes, all of these have influenced negatively on the possibility of the success of IPM programs. Thus, some innovative alternatives have emerged from concerning public and private initiatives. In this regard, the Plantwise approach, as a framework for action, is to strengthen the capacity of agricultural institutions and organizations to establish more effective and sustainable national plant health systems. Plantwise is an innovative global program led by the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), which aims to contribute to increased food security, alleviated poverty, and improved livelihoods by enabling male and female farmers around the world to lose less, produce more, and improve the quality of their crops. Strengthening plant health systems removes barriers to make accessible to farmers sustainable approaches for pest control. In this chapter, we include some historical review of IPM concepts, strategies, and some experiences in application of IPM in Latin America. Also we discuss the potential and challenges for implementation and adoption of IPM practices and the ways how Plantwise has engaged with the key partners in the different countries where the program is being implemented, promoting the implementation of IPM approaches in order to improve agriculture systems, mainly those from subsistence agriculture, in Latin America

Use of Parasitoids as a Biocontrol Agent in the Neotropical Region: Challenges and Potential

The agricultural production in the Neotropical region is highly affected by the attack of pests and diseases. Due to the overuse of pesticides, sustainable methods of control are in demand, such as biological control. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) considered the use of Biological control as a method to suppress the population of pests in several field agricultural systems and in protected crops systems. Biological control is generally appreciated today as an important component of IPM, and the demand for it is likely to spread as the IPM programs develop worldwide. The tropics present an important region for the application of biological control. The Neotropical region is characterized by its rich biodiversity, resulting in a wide range of natural enemies of pests represented by parasitoids, predators, and pathogens. Parasitoids are the natural enemies most used around the world for biological control. In this chapter, we present biological control programs using parasitoids established in the Neotropical region to control key pests of economic importance. Agricultural practices that maintain and enhance the action of natural enemies in crops will be reviewed, as the challenges and potential for the establishment of Biological Control programs using parasitoids in the Neotropical region

Biological control as part of the soybean Integrated Pest Management (IPM) : potential and challenges

Soybean production is usually performed on large scales, requiring simple but efficient pest management to be successful. Soybean fields are inhabited by several species of arthropods, demanding constant development of management practices to prevent pest outbreaks. More recently, stink bugs have become the most important pest group of soybeans in the Neotropics, responsible for up to 60% of the applied insecticides in Brazil. Natural enemies represent an important mortality factor that can keep the damage caused by stink bugs below the economic threshold levels without additional control actions. Thus, Conservation Biological Control (CBC) strategies can be adopted to preserve or even promote the increase in such natural enemies in the fields, or alternatively, massive releases of biocontrol agents in Augmentative Biological Control (ABC) programs could be adopted. Simple practices such as reducing insecticide use (with the adoption of economic thresholds), prioritizing harmless insecticides or biopesticides, and planting resistant soybean cultivars have been adopted in Brazil with positive results. The challenges to increasing the adoption of more complex stink bug management in commodity crops such as soybean may be overcome using the more recent economic incentives in the global agenda of decarbonized agriculture. The potential and challenges of conservation and augmentative biological control are further discussed in this review

Relação entre estresse de radiação ultravioleta-b e óxido nítrico em plantas de eucalipto

As espécies do gênero Eucalyptus apresentam notável capacidade de extração de água e nutrientes, assimilação fotossintética e crescimento, permitindo seu cultivo em ambientes considerados impróprios para muitas outras espécies. Além dos fatores ambientais atuando adversamente no desempenho das plantas, atualmente estas estão sujeitas aos efeitos das mudanças ambientais globais causadas pelas atividades antrópicas, tais como o aumento na incidência da radiação ultravioleta-B (RUV-B) em conseqüência da destruição da camada de ozônio. Estudos recentes têm mostrado que a RUV-B promove aumento no nível de espécies reativas de oxigênio (ERO), ocasionando estresse oxidativo nas plantas. Entretanto, as plantas apresentam um sistema de defesa contra o estresse oxidativo, constituído de enzimas antioxidantes, tais como superóxido dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) e peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7), além de outros compostos, como antocianinas, carotenóides e compostos fenólicos, que impedem a formação de ERO ou eliminam as já existentes. Há algum tempo, tem sido verificada em plantas a presença de óxido nítrico (NO), radical livre endógeno que possui a capacidade de controlar o nível e a toxicidade das ERO. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar o possível efeito citoprotetor do NO em plantas de eucalipto (Eucalyptus urograndis) expostas à RUV-B. Assim, foi realizado um primeiro experimento no qual plantas de eucalipto foram expostas à RUV-B em baixa (controle) e elevada incidência, com o intuito de verificar se a radiação promove estresse oxidativo nesta espécie. Foram realizadas coletas de lâminas foliares aos cinco, dez e quinze dias após o início da exposição à RUV-B para posterior determinação do nível de peroxidação lipídica. A exposição por 15 dias à RUV-B...The species of the genus Eucalyptus present notable capacity to extract water and nutrients, photosynthetic assimilation and growth, allowing cultivation in ambient considered inappropriate for many other species. Besides the environmental factors acting adversely in the performance of the plants, nowadays they are subject to the effects of the global environmental changes caused by human activities, such as the increase in the incidence of the ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) in consequence of the ozone layer destruction. Recent studies show that UV- B radiation promotes increase in the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing oxidative stress in plants. However, plants have a defence system against oxidative stress, constituted of antioxidant enzymes, such as, superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7), and others compounds, such as anthocyanins, carotenoids and phenolic compounds, that avoid ROS formation or eliminate the already existent. There has been long, it was noticed the presence of nitric oxide (NO) in plants, endogenous free radical able to control the ROS level and toxicity. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the possible citoprotector effect of the NO in eucalyptus (Eucalyptus urograndis) plants subjected to UV-B radiation. So, a first experiment was setup in which plants of eucalyptus were subjected to radiation in low (control) and high incidence of UV-B, to verify if UV-B radiation promotes oxidative stress in this specie. Leaves were collected at five, ten and fifteen days after the beginning of exposure to UV-B for subsequent evaluation of the level of lipid peroxidation. Exposure for 15 days to RUV-B increased the lipoperoxide content in the eucalyptus... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Métodos para identificação de moléculas com atividade herbicida com ênfase na rota de síntese de carotenóides

Weed management has always been an important aspect of crop production. The introduction of synthetic herbicides in the mid-20th century has made weed control less expensive and more effective. The introduction of transgenic crops resistant to non-selective synthetic herbicides (e.g., glyphosate and glufosinate) further established the reliance on herbicides as the dominant technology used for large-scale weed control in production agriculture worldwide. However, the selection pressure imposed by herbicides has led to the widespread evolution of herbicide resistance in weed populations, which is a major threat to the sustainability and profitability of cropping systems. Reliable tests for resistance are an essential pre-requisite for the rational implementation of effective integrated control strategies. There is increasing demand from growers to test for weed resistance and learn how to manage it. Scientists have developed resistance-testing protocols for numerous herbicides but, in Brazil, there is no review compiling this information. Evolution of herbicide resistance is also underscoring the need for herbicides with new modes of action to complement those herbicides failing due to resistance. The 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway represents one of the most promising targets to develop new herbicides as well as targets to improve the nutritional value of crop plants. However, there is just one commercial herbicide, clomazone, targeting it. Therefore, in the first chapter of this study there is a compilation of assays to measure the activity of key target enzymes and characterization of plant resistance to all known herbicides mode of action. Since no in vivo assay was available for testing inhibitors of MEP pathway, in the second chapter it is described the development of a rapid, accurate, cheap, readily available leaf disc assay based on the measurement of the carbon ...O manejo de plantas daninhas é um aspecto importante da produção agrícola. A introdução de herbicidas sintéticos, em meados do século 20, tornou o controle de plantas daninhas menos dispendioso e mais eficaz. A introdução de culturas transgênicas resistentes a herbicidas não-seletivos (por exemplo, glifosato e glufosinato) reforçou o estabelecimento dos herbicidas como a principal tecnologia usada para controle em grande escala de plantas daninhas na produção agrícola mundial. No entanto, a pressão de seleção imposta pelos herbicidas levou à evolução generalizada de resistência em populações de plantas daninhas, o que representa uma grande ameaça para a sustentabilidade e rentabilidade dos sistemas de cultivo. Testes confiáveis para a detecção de resistência são pré-requisito para a implementação de estratégias de controle integrado eficazes. Há demanda crescente dos produtores por testes para diagnosticar a resistência de plantas daninhas e aprender a gerenciá-la. Os cientistas desenvolveram protocolos de teste de resistência para inúmeros herbicidas, mas, no Brasil, não há nenhum trabalho compilando essas informações. A evolução da resistência tem também acentuado a necessidade de produtos com novos mecanismos de ação para complementar a falta de atividade dos herbicidas atuais. A rota do metileritritol fosfato (MEP) representa um dos alvos mais promissores para o desenvolvimento de novos herbicidas, bem como para melhorar o valor nutricional de culturas agrícolas. No entanto, há apenas um herbicida comercial, clomazone, alvejando esta rota. Portanto, o primeiro capítulo do presente trabalho consiste em uma compilação de ensaios para medir a atividade de enzimas-alvo e caracterização de resistência de plantas a todos os modos de ação de herbicidas conhecidos. Uma vez que não havia descrito nenhum ensaio in vivo para testar ..