An old pest, a new solution - Commercializing rice stem-borer pheromones in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is essentially self-sufficient in rice as a result of the successful adoption of new high-yielding varieties and irrigated summer production over traditional deep-water cultivation practices. The sustainability of the cropping system depends on farmers adopting integrated pest management (IPM) practices in preference to relying solely on insecticides for pest and disease control. Yet insecticide consumption in rice is increasing, in common with other crop-production systems in Bangladesh. It is probably only the poor economic returns from rice cultivation that prevent more widespread use of pesticides. Enlightened agrochemical companies such as Syngenta Bangladesh Limited have recognized that insecticide use in rice should be discouraged, and promote IPM options through their farmer field school (FFS) programme. This paper describes the results of a collaborative project to assist Syngenta to develop and incorporate mass trapping with sex pheromones into their FFS programme as an environmentally benign method of controlling the predominant insect pests of rice, stem borers.