Turning Ecology Against Pesticide Resistance: Exploiting Competition in Pest Populations Through Pesticide Use

Modern agriculture relies on effective pesticides for pest control, but this efficacy is threatened by the evolution of resistance. Although pesticides are novel compounds, pests can quickly develop resistance. Inspired by medical research, we propose an ecologically inspired pest management paradigm that uses pesticides to leverage competitive interactions between pesticide-sensitive and resistant pests. This approach involves reactive pesticide use, monitoring pest responses, and maintaining pest populations below economic injury levels while limiting resistant individuals’ proliferation. A mathematical model shows that managing pests’ abundance at critical levels, rather than aiming for eradication, delays resistant-pest dominance. By reducing resistant individuals’ growth rates and maximizing pesticide-sensitive populations, resistance spread can be hampered. Our findings suggest proactive, ecological, and evolutionary-informed pest management to address threats to food production. This study also highlights opportunities for further research into the ecological aspects of pesticide resistance.