Pest management cycles and sustainability of cotton production systems.

摘要

A theoretical model of pest management cycles is proposed to assess the sustainability of cotton production systems. This model is based on the interaction process between crop protection practices and ecological dynamics (pest pressure, resistance to pesticides) that influences the proportion of cotton-planted areas in a cultivated ecosystem. Adaptive cycles of cotton production are exemplified by a comparative analysis of several case studies in Thailand, Australia and Mali, where cotton areas were similar in the 1980s, but have evolved very differently since then. Over the last 2 decades, cotton production fell sharply in Thailand while it increased rapidly in Australia and Mali. The capacity to control pests in an integrated manner at the agroecosystem scale is considered as a key driving factor of the changes observed in cotton industries. The three case studies suggest that several models of social organization of crop protection can contribute to maintain the ecological and economic viability of cotton production systems..