Resistance of harmful organisms to pesticides and relation to food safety

The resistance of insect pests and other harmful organisms to pesticides is becoming an increasingly serious problem in intensive agriculture and food production and storage worldwide. This study presents the risk of resistance of 9 species of field pests for which pesticide resistance has been identified in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the study confirmed the presence of resistant populations to the only registered fumigant (phospine) used for post-harvest treatment of stored cereals, legumes and food in the Czech Republic.

For some pest populations, 44-52 times higher resistance to phosphorus was documented in this study than in susceptible reference pest populations. The study also evaluates the risk of pest resistance to food safety for the environment. Growing resistance frequency and extent of pests both in the field and in the stores has two major negative effects in terms of food safety.

(i) The first risk is the need to increase doses of insecticides, thereby increasing the risk of environmental contamination and increased pesticide content in agricultural products and foodstuffs.

(ii) The second type of resistance risk is the reduced efficacy of insecticidal preparations that can lead to the reproduction and contamination of crops by insect allergens.