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Bollgard® II resistance management plan

Steve Ainsworth (Monsanto), Bruce Pyke (CRDC) and Craig Farlow (Monsanto) outline the coming seasons Resistance Management Plan for Bollgard® II.

Steve could you update us on where we are at with the resistance management plan for Bollgard® II for the coming season?

Yes thanks Adam, I’m happy to say that within the last two weeks we’ve had regulatory approval by all regulatory agencies who have reviewed the RMP to give it the OK. The plan was signed off and endorsed by TIMS about three months ago and about a fortnight ago we’ve had federal regulatory clearance.

And so are there any major changes with the resistance management plan?

The plan as growers will come to see in the next couple of weeks when they’re looking at licensing and going through planning with Monsanto business managers has changed somewhat over the previous INGARD® plan and those changes basically we have a system now which is based exclusively on refuge management, so growers have got the ability to use an area of a technology which suits their needs and then adjust their refuge requirements for the technology. Refuge management with Bollgard® II is of equal importance than it was with INGARD® and the new plan takes that into account.

Steve, now that the 30 or 40 percent cap has been lifted, does that mean that some of the refuges and things aren’t as important?

No, not at all Adam. The refuge management and refuge selection for Bollgard® II is vitally important. The sustainability of the technology is really important. Bollgard® II with the dual proteins does provide an excellent platform for long-term stability of resistance management and obviously it’s an important part for the industry and for Monsanto and for the whole shooting match that that is done correctly.

The growers will see the RMP; there’s a great deal of flexibility within RMP to choose options, which suit individual circumstances and one of the major differences over the previous RMP is that there’s not use of an additional refuge as you get to certain levels of the technology. It’s essentially a straight line and every hectare of Bollgard® II requires an effective hectare or an effective choice of refuge for that area going forward.

Bruce could you make some comments about the importance of the resistance management plan for Bollgard® II?

Well it’s going to be absolutely essential that we manage Bollgard® II resistance really well. Theoretically it offers great opportunities for us to expand the area of Bollgard® II and we’re seeing that with the new resistance management plan but some of the research that’s currently being done shows that it may not be as robust as we theoretically would like to see it, so that means it all comes back to what we do in the field. We’ve got to manage resistance really well.

Are there any cautions, apart from what you just mentioned that we should look out for?

Well I think the key elements of the resistance management plan come back to how we manage our refuges; they’re absolutely essential and we might see over the next two or three years that we have to adjust what we do with our refuges a bit to make them more effective and there are some opportunities there with some of the new research for example products like Magnet, the helicoverpa attractant might give us the opportunity to attract more heliothis or helicoverpa where we want them. That’s a research area I guess.

The other area that is really essential and always has been is pupae busting. Certainly in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales it’s essential. Central Queensland of course have their trap crops; they’re absolutely essential that they’re managed properly, so I think while Bollgard® II offers some great new opportunities for us in terms of perhaps increasing our profitability and allowing us to improve our IPM systems and to perhaps even manage some of our diseases like Fusarium and Black Root Rot a little bit better we’ve still got to keep our focus on resistance management. It’s absolutely essential if we want to maintain the efficacy of Bollgard® II.

And you mentioned IPM, this would almost lead to greater IPM opportunities?

Well certainly; when you look at the results we’ve seen so far with Bollgard® II last season in a relatively high Helicoverpa punctigera year, which is never a good thing for IPM, Bollgard® II came out looking fantastic, so it does offer great opportunities to improve our IPM but we’ve got to focus on the issue of not using those broad spectrum sprays too early in the season because that’s where we could become undone. 

Craig could you go into a little more detail about the resistance management plan for us?

Certainly Adam, as growers have seen in the past, we have a range of refuge options available and these will look fairly similar and are familiar to growers from what they’ve seen in the past. We’re looking at an area of 5% pigeon peas. That’s calculated on their Bollgard® II area. There’s also the option of 10% unsprayed cotton and that’s completely unsprayed for Helicoverpa.

There’s also the two summer crop options, sorghum and corn. Sorghum, growers can look at 15% of their Bollgard® II area being sorghum with three planting dates and similarly with corn, the growers would be looking at 20% of their Bollgard® II area being planted with three planting dates once again. And the final option of course is to grow 100% sprayed cotton with no BT applications, which basically means an equivalent area to their Bollgard® II area.

And how close does the refuge need to be to their Bollgard® II cotton Craig?

Ok, similarly as we’ve seen in the past, growers need to have their refuge located within 2km of their Bollgard® II cotton and once again we do need those areas of refuge to be a minimum of two hectares and 48 meters wide. The extra stipulation for the coming season is that there is part of their unsprayed refuge within a Bollgard® II field or adjacent to a Bollgard® II field. That’s not all Bollgard® II fields but in very close proximity to one Bollgard® II field. And that’s to ensure that the aim of the refuge to be producing susceptible months that there is a good dilution of moths going directly into a Bollgard® II field.

And the management of the refuge Craig, it has to be managed similar to the crop?

Absolutely Adam and one of the key points of refuge, they are there number one to produce susceptible months and hopefully to dilute any potential build up on resistance. So we need refuges to be managed in such a fashion that they are maintained to be attractive so they are hence flowering and being watered, good agronomic management. It is also important that if you’re going to cultivate your refuge crop then ideally you would also cultivate your Bollgard® II crop.

Is the grower able to have Roundup Ready® cotton as a refuge?

Absolutely Adam, and a lot of growers have found that using Roundup Ready in the unsprayed cotton or using Roundup Ready in their conventional cotton system as a pretty positive refuge because it allows them to make sure that that country is kept clean both in the current season but also in future seasons.

And for Dryland growers, what would be the changes, that they can use certain refuges?

Good point Adam. For all Dryland growers you’re looking at either one of the two cotton refuges so you spray cotton at 100% or an equivalent area of your Bollgard® II cotton area or your unsprayed cotton option, which is 10% of your Dryland Bollgard® II area.

Craig, can you give us some actual examples of the sort of split of Bollgard® II cotton and refuges?

Certainly Adam, if growers are looking to maximize the area of Bollgard® II on their farm, then they could consider an area of Pigeon Peas. Now, it’s probably easier for growers to look at their available planting area so as not to confuse and that really means that per one hundred hectares a grower could grow 95.2 hectares of Bollgard® II cotton but the remainder being 4.8 hectares of Pigeon Peas.

Obviously 4.8 being 5% of 95.2. Similarly a grower could look at 90.9 hectares of Bollgard® II and 9.1 hectares of unsprayed cotton per one hundred hectares of planted area and if you’re looking at the situation with sorghum, you’re looking at an area of 87 hectares of Bollgard® II and 13 hectares of planted sorghum. You can use a combination of these sorts of refuges.

To quote an example, a grower could choose to grow something in the order of 67 hectares per one hundred hectares, he could use a proportion of that area remaining using sprayed cotton and also a smaller amount of unsprayed cotton; so if perhaps 3.8 hectares of unsprayed cotton to meet his requirements and the remainder would be sprayed cotton without a BT application.

And as far as Dryland growers go, what’s the deal Craig, with single skip/double skip, that sort of thing?

It’s a good question Adam because the configuration really gives Dryland growers the opportunity to maximize the benefits of Bollgard® II but also weighing up the advantage that Bollgard® II for Dryland growers is charged in green hectares, so if you’re growing double skip obviously you’re looking at only half the licence fee and if you’re growing single skip you’re looking at around 2/3 of the licence fee. It is important that Dryland growers consider the configuration of their refuge option as well so that the refuge is a matched scenario. In the Dryland situation it is important that the refuge is planted into country with a similar fallow history and similar crop management so that the refuge crop is actually going to perform and do the job that it’s meant to do.

And if a grower wants a bit of assistance with developing his refuge options and everything, who should he contact to work up what the best refuge configuration is for him? 

It’s a good take home message Adam, I’d suggest that any grower looking at his individual farm needs should talk to his local business manager; those names and numbers that can be found on the website. Most people find that the RMP can be a little bit confusing but when you look at their individual situations there’s quite a bit of flexibility their for most growers and I’d suggest if they want a detailed farm plan including the location of refuges to make sure that everything is squared away before they start planting, that would be a ideal job for the local business manager.

Further Information:  Robert Eveleigh, John Marshall,  Craig McDonald or David Kelly