PESTICIDES AND THEIR IMPACT ON ENTOMOFAUNA IN ANDEAN FARMERS’ FIELDS IN ECUADOR

Abstract

Ignorance of the rational use of insecticides leads farmers in developing countries such as Ecuador to exceed the limit of permitted applications. In addition, little is known about the effect of insecticides on entomofauna of Lupinus mutabilis (lupine). This study aims to analyze the effect of insecticides on pests and beneficial insects, with special emphasis on pollinators, without neglecting the effect on crop yield. The entomofauna associated with Andean Lupin was used as a reference. Seventy-nine agricultural fields were evaluated in Cotopaxi-Ecuador, with the treatments with chemicals, without chemicals, and without any control. Once the experiment was presented to the participating group, the farmers chose the management treatment for their fields with recommendations from the researchers. For insect monitoring, yellow sticky and plate traps were used to obtain variables of insect abundance and diversity. The use and application of pesticides was recorded using surveys developed with Survey 123. The results showed that the application of insecticides was not always effective in controlling the pests studied. In addition, the treatments evaluated had different effects according to the type of insect pollinator analyzed. On the other hand, the study also showed that certain pests, especially borers, could induce a positive response (70% more flowers) that can actually benefit the final yield. These results suggest that pest controls for this crop should be more targeted and carried out before flowering to avoid causing damage to pollinators and borers, as well as natural enemies of pests.