Case Study 1: Euschistus heros (F.) on Soybean in Brazil

Soybean production is usually performed at large scales and is very dynamic, requiring great adaptation to be successful. Pest outbreaks in this agroecosystem require constant development of agricultural management practices, otherwise production may be compromised. More recently, after the adoption of Bt soybean to control Lepidoptera pests, stink bugs have become the most important pest group, responsible for up to 60% of the applied insecticides in Brazil on this crop. Integrated pest management (IPM) adoption has reduced the overall insecticide use (with the adoption of economic thresholds) and favored prioritization of the most harmless insecticides or biopesticides with impactful positive results. The challenges to increase the adoption of IPM programs in commodities crops such as soybean may be overcome by the more recent economic incentives in the context of the new global agenda of decarbonized agriculture presenting a new incentive to the adoption of IPM to control stink bugs as well as other key pests.