Monocrotophos — Interaction with Insects, Mites, and Plants

In industrialized and developing countries, modern agriculture is subject to contradictory trends: in the wealthy countries, society demands yield to be secondary to complete environmental compatibility. In poor countries, by contrast, conservation and optimization of yield is mandatory if sufficient food for the increasing population is to be provided. “Insects are to be controlled by biological means, if possible, exclusively”—this statement would be a modern postulate in the industrialized world. However, the reality in tropical and subtropical agriculture is different. There, plant protection by chemicals is indispensable if volume and continuity of agricultural production are to be safeguarded. For research, this means that new insecticides should be environmentally compatible, safe according to all possible criteria, and superb control agents for all pest species concerned, resistant or not. If these postulates are rigorously followed, the chances for development of a new-age insecticide are practically nil. As a consequence, there has been a steady decline in enterprises with the willingness and capacity to invest in research for new insecticides, and this decline will continue. In this situation, it is mandatory to prolong the useful life of proven insect-control agents by any means. This review deals with monocrotophos, a representative of the enolphosphates, and its biological performance. Over the past two decades, a great amount of work has been done to elucidate the pros and cons of monocrotophos. A cross section of characteristics of monocrotophos is presented to which many workers all over the world have contributed.