Money spent on chemical pesticides for protecting some crops from insect-pests and diseases can generally be about 50% of the total input costs of raising the crop. Cotton is one such crop. Cotton-boll-worm (Helicoverpa armigera) is the major insect-pest of cotton. The same insect is also called legume pod-borer and bores into the pods of several other crops, including pigeonpea, and eventually into the lives of poor farmers in the semi-arid tropics. Over the years, this insect has developed resistance to several different chemical pesticides.