Overreliance on synthetic insecticides in global agriculture is the outcome of a “pesticide treadmill,” in which insecticide-induced pest resistance development and the depletion of beneficial insect populations aggravate farmers’ pesticide dependencies. Examples of the pesticide treadmill have been witnessed repeatedly over the past seven decades, prompting the question whether the rapid uptake and usage patterns of neonicotinoid insecticides and their associated environmental impact are in accordance with this recurrent phenomenon. We hypothesize a conceptual framework in which treadmills are enforced by enabling or disabling drivers within four domains: pest management decisions at the farm level, characteristics of farming landscapes, science and technology, and societal demands. These drivers then tend to create a self-enforcing pesticide “lock-in.” We then analyze several post-1950s historical case studies with reference to this framework, e.g., those involving sprays of the highly hazardous DDT and methyl-parathion, in which the pesticide treadmill was initiated, sustained, and broken, and compare this with current patterns in neonicotinoid use. Historical case studies further illustrate how treadmills occur in three phases in which (i) a limited number of insecticides are routinely used, (ii) resistance development of pests results in the increased crop injury, prompting increased frequency of applications with a wider range of products, (iii) breaking out of the pesticide “lock-in” by policy change and adoption of alternative technologies that lowered chemical inputs and improved agro-ecosystem functioning. The analysis shows similarities as well as differences between neonicotinoid usage patterns and historic pesticide treadmills, and provides guidance on how to effectively avoid or dismantle pesticide treadmills in global agriculture.

中文翻译：

---

全球农业中的新烟碱类：新农药跑步机的证据？

全球农业对合成杀虫剂的过度依赖是“农药跑步机”的结果，其中杀虫剂引起的害虫抗性发展和有益昆虫种群的枯竭加剧了农民对农药的依赖。在过去的七年里，杀虫剂跑步机的例子屡屡出现，这引发了一个问题，即新烟碱类杀虫剂的快速吸收和使用模式及其相关的环境影响是否与这种反复出现的现象相符。我们假设了一个概念框架，其中通过启用或禁用四个领域的驱动因素来强制执行跑步机：农场层面的虫害管理决策、农业景观特征、科学技术和社会需求。然后，这些驱动因素往往会产生一种自我强制的杀虫剂“锁定”。然后我们参考这个框架分析了几个 1950 年代后的历史案例研究，例如那些涉及喷洒高度危险的 DDT 和甲基对硫磷的案例研究，其中农药跑步机被启动、持续和破坏，并将其与当前模式进行比较在新烟碱类药物的使用中。历史案例研究进一步说明了跑步机如何发生在三个阶段：(i) 常规使用数量有限的杀虫剂，(ii) 害虫的抗性发展导致作物伤害增加，促使应用频率增加，产品范围更广, (iii) 通过政策变化和采用可降低化学品投入和改善农业生态系统功能的替代技术，打破农药“锁定”。