In an effort to manage resistance, Dow AgroSciences is encouraging fruit and vegetable growers to rotate insecticides through a new Web site called IRMGuidelines.com (IRM stands for Insect Resistance Management). The site allows visitors to choose the crop they grow, review pests that infest that crop and see the available insecticides or active ingredients that provide control against the pests.

"We know that rotating insecticides isn’t as simple as continually using the same product, but rotation is an important management tool for controlling insects," says Lee Conway, marketing specialist for Dow AgroSciences. "Once you lose one insect control tool due to resistance, it makes the remaining insecticides more susceptible to resistance because they in turn are used more frequently."

Dow AgroSciences points out that the insecticide recommendations found within the site don’t just include their insect control products; they also identify active ingredients produced by other manufacturers that are effective against key pests.

"It's important that growers consider all available tools for insect control, including synthetic insecticides, biological insecticides, beneficial insects, cultural practices, transgenic plants and crop rotation," Conway adds.

In an effort to manage resistance, Dow AgroSciences is encouraging fruit and vegetable growers to rotate insecticides through a new Web site called IRMGuidelines.com (IRM stands for Insect Resistance Management). The site allows visitors to choose the crop they grow, review pests that infest that crop and see the available insecticides or active ingredients that provide control against the pests.