Cotton pest control awareness in farmers of the Punjab, Pakistan and its impact on whitefly resistance against available insecticides

A farmers survey was conducted to perceive their knowledge of pest control and its impact on resistance to insecticides in whitefly. Most farmers had some school education and were able to identify the major pests of cotton, but they used descriptive rather than specific names when defining a pest. They exclusively relied on chemical pest control and sprayed 4–5 active ingredients in almost 7–8 applications. The majority of them applied insecticide mixtures at doses higher than recommended and followed a calendar spraying schedule. Laboratory bioassays indicated a low level of resistance of B. tabaci to imidacloprid, acetamiprid, nitenpyram, buprofezina, pyriproxyfen, diafenthiuron, spirotetramat, and flonicamid with resistance ratios of 5.13-, 3.0-, 4.90-, 4.14-, 3.42-,4.73-, 3.08- and 1.93- fold, respectively compared with a susceptible population. However, the bioassays showed a medium level of resistance (16.4- fold) to bifenthrin. In conclusion, B. tabaci showed a low level of resistance to the insecticides used and for the attainment of satisfactory pest control, farmers should be educated on the correct use of insecticides and also about alternatives to chemical control.