MANAGING PEST RESISTANCE TO BACILLUS-THURINGIENSIS ENDOTOXINS - CONSTRAINTS AND INCENTIVES TO IMPLEMENTATION

Technological advances in combination with societal concerns over the potential for adverse health and environmental effects of chemical pes ticides are operating to increase the use of Bacillus thuringiensis en dotoxins in crop protection. Accompanying this increased use will be a n increase in the intensity of selection for endotoxin resistance in a number of important pest species, To preserve the value of B. thuring iensis endotoxins in crop protection, it will be necessary to implemen t resistance management measures. This article analyzes the roles of p est control crises, societal values. level of awareness about resistan ce and resistance management, political action, economic consideration s, competing technologies and products, and the difficulty of assessin g the success of resistance management as constraints and incentives f or the implementation of resistance management by the B. thuringiensis industry and by end users of B. thuringiensis products. Based on this analysis and a consideration of the attributes of new technologies th at favor their ready adoption, we concluded that individual farmers ha ve limited incentive to adopt resistance management technologies for B . thuringiensis endotoxins, and that the greatest incentive lies with the B. thuringiensis industry. However. the implementation of a coordi nated, industry-wide, B. thuringiensis resistance management effort is likely to be constrained by competition among segments of the B. thur ingiensis industry vested in different technologies (sprays versus tra nsgenic plants) and among producers of B. thuringiensis products using the same technology. It is further concluded that successful implemen tation of resistance management for B. thuringiensis endotoxins will l ikely require that the B. thuringiensis industry prepackage resistance management technologies with their products, and that these prepackag ed resistance management strategies do not add significantly to the co sts or complexity of pest control by the end user.