{"title":"Refuge strategies for managing resistance to Bt maize in fall armyworm in smallholder farming systems: a case study from China","authors":"Guodong Kang, Xianming Yang, Haowen Zhang, Yanfang Huang, Yishu Sun, Gemei Liang, Kongming Wu","doi":"10.1007/s10340-025-01896-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The invasion of fall armyworm <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i> poses a significant threat to the maize production of smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa. Bt maize is an effective measure for controlling this pest, but resistance management strategies tailored to the smallholder farming systems in the old world remain poorly understood. Surveys conducted from 2021 to 2022 in key infestation regions of Yunnan and Guangxi, China, revealed that an average administrative village includes 633 households, each cultivating 0.22 ha of maize per season, with 95.68% of fields smaller than 0.33 ha. Laboratory and field studies indicated that the high dispersal ability of fall armyworm larvae facilitated frequent larval movement between Bt and non-Bt maize within seed mixtures and structured refuges in smallholder farming systems. Resistance evolution models showed that establishing structured refuges covering 10–20% of households at the village level significantly slowed resistance development. This study proposes a village-based structured refuge strategy, proportionally allocated according to household distribution. The strategy is simple and feasible for smallholder farming systems in developing countries, offering a novel approach for managing resistance to Bt maize in fall armyworms.</p>","PeriodicalId":16736,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Pest Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Pest Science","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-025-01896-0","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENTOMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The invasion of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda poses a significant threat to the maize production of smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa. Bt maize is an effective measure for controlling this pest, but resistance management strategies tailored to the smallholder farming systems in the old world remain poorly understood. Surveys conducted from 2021 to 2022 in key infestation regions of Yunnan and Guangxi, China, revealed that an average administrative village includes 633 households, each cultivating 0.22 ha of maize per season, with 95.68% of fields smaller than 0.33 ha. Laboratory and field studies indicated that the high dispersal ability of fall armyworm larvae facilitated frequent larval movement between Bt and non-Bt maize within seed mixtures and structured refuges in smallholder farming systems. Resistance evolution models showed that establishing structured refuges covering 10–20% of households at the village level significantly slowed resistance development. This study proposes a village-based structured refuge strategy, proportionally allocated according to household distribution. The strategy is simple and feasible for smallholder farming systems in developing countries, offering a novel approach for managing resistance to Bt maize in fall armyworms.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Pest Science publishes high-quality papers on all aspects of pest science in agriculture, horticulture (including viticulture), forestry, urban pests, and stored products research, including health and safety issues.
Journal of Pest Science reports on advances in control of pests and animal vectors of diseases, the biology, ethology and ecology of pests and their antagonists, and the use of other beneficial organisms in pest control. The journal covers all noxious or damaging groups of animals, including arthropods, nematodes, molluscs, and vertebrates.
Journal of Pest Science devotes special attention to emerging and innovative pest control strategies, including the side effects of such approaches on non-target organisms, for example natural enemies and pollinators, and the implementation of these strategies in integrated pest management.
Journal of Pest Science also publishes papers on the management of agro- and forest ecosystems where this is relevant to pest control. Papers on important methodological developments relevant for pest control will be considered as well.