Current Status and Future Prospects of Contact Insecticides in Stored-Product Protection

Abstract

Historically, contact insecticides have played a major role in managing pests in postharvest stored commodities. Despite the availability of significant literature published over the past three decades, the current status and potential future use of contact insecticides are not known. In this review we synthesize the literature to identify reasons for the ongoing decline in the use of contact insecticides in postharvest commodity protection, and outline the challenges and opportunities for their future use by the grain industry. Development of resistance in major stored-product insect pests to conventional pesticides and the stricter regulatory requirements driven by consumer sensitivity to pesticide residues on food are discussed in detail to explain the limitations to their current use. We also highlight the strategic integration of currently available contact insecticides into a fumigation-dominated pest management program. We conclude by proposing several research aspects that may prompt their continued use by the grain industry in the near future.