Estimating the Economic Cost of One of the World's Major Insect Pests, <I>Plutella xylostella</I> (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae): Just How Long Is a Piece of String?

Abstract

Since 1993, the annual worldwide cost of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), control has been routinely quoted to be US$1 billion. This estimate requires updating and incorporation of yield losses to reflect current total costs of the pest to the world economy. We present an analysis that estimates what the present costs are likely to be based on a set of necessary, but reasoned, assumptions. We use an existing climate driven model for diamondback moth distribution and abundance, the Food and Agriculture Organization country Brassica crop production data and various management scenarios to bracket the cost estimates. The "length of the string" is somewhere between US$1.3 billion and US$2.3 billion based on management costs. However, if residual pest damage is included then the cost estimates will be even higher; a conservative estimate of 5% diamondback moth-induced yield loss to all crops adds another US$2.7 billion to the total costs associated with the pest. A conservative estimate of total costs associated with diamondback moth management is thus US$4 billion-US$5 billion. The lower bound represents rational decision making by pest managers based on diamondback moth abundance driven by climate only. The upper estimate is due to the more normal practice of weekly insecticide application to vegetable crops and the assumption that canola (Brassica napus L.) is treated with insecticide at least once during the crop cycle. Readers can decide for themselves what the real cost is likely to be because we provide country data for further interpretation. Our analysis suggests that greater efforts at implementation of even basic integrated pest management would reduce insecticide inputs considerably, reducing negative environmental impacts and saving many hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

A heterozygous moth genome provides insights into herbivory and detoxification

“…1) and has become the most destructive pest of economically important food crops, including rapeseed, cauliflower and cabbage 4 . Recently, the total cost of damage and management worldwide was estimated at $4-5 billion per annum 5,6 . This insect is the first species to have evolved resistance to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) in the 1950s 7 and to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins in the 1990s 8 and has developed resistance to all classes of insecticide, making it increasingly difficult to control 9,10 .…”

Agricultural production: assessment of the potential use of Cas9-mediated gene drive systems for agricultural pest control

“…Beyond vegetables, this moth also feeds on canola and wild mustards. The global economic cost of the DBM is estimated at between $4 and $5 billion, annually (Zalucki et al 2012).…”

Brasicáceas y perspectivas de control biológico del insecto plaga Plutella xylostella (Lepidóptera: Plutellidae) utilizando Bacillus thuringiensis

“…Actualmente se tiene como referente el resultado presentado por Zalucki, et al (2012), quienes calculan que los costos mundiales asociados a este proceso, sumados a las pérdidas de producción, representan entre cuatro y cinco billones de dólares anuales. El control de esta plaga, que depende en gran medida de aplicaciones de insecticidas de síntesis química, constituye, por tanto, el mayor costo fijo en la producción agrícola de brasicáceas a escala mundial.…”

“…kurstaki hd1 (Dipel ®) (que sintetiza las proteínas Cry1Aa, Cry1Ab, Cry1C y Cry1D y Cry2B), que han conducido al uso racional de insecticidas de síntesis química en México y a la reducción significativa del uso de estos en paí-ses del sudeste asiático, como Indonesia, Malasia, Filipinas y Tailandia . Al mismo tiempo, se ha requerido que otras organizaciones a escala mundial, como la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (fao, 2005), desarrollen y fomenten un control eficaz, sostenible y económicamente rentable de la P. xylostella, dado que los costos del control y las pér-didas de producción, si no se aplican estrategias de manejo integrado, se estiman en billones de dólares anuales en todo el mundo (Zalucki, et al, 2012), lo que convierte a la P. xylostella en la plaga más importante para el cultivo de brasicáceas (Furlong, et al, 2013).…”