Biological control using invertebrates and microorganisms: plenty of new opportunities

Abstract

In augmentative biological control (ABC), invertebrate and microbial organisms are seasonally released in large numbers to reduce pests. Today it is applied on more than 30 million ha worldwide. Europe is the largest commercial market for invertebrate biological control agents, while North America has the largest sales of microbials. A strong growth in use of ABC, particularly of microbial agents, is taking place in Latin America, followed by Asia. The current popularity of ABC is due to (1) its inherent positive characteristics (healthier for farm workers and persons living in farming communities, no harvesting interval or waiting period after release of agents, sustainable as there is no development of resistance against arthropod natural enemies, no phytotoxic damage to plants, better yields and a healthier product, reduced pesticide residues [well below the legal Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs)], (2) professionalism of the biological control industry (inexpensive large scale mass production, proper quality control, efficient packaging, distribution and release methods, and availability of many ([440 species) control agents for numerous pests), (3) a number of recent successes showing how biological control can save agricultural production when pesticides fail or are not available, (4) several Handling Editor: Russell Messing.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

Development of Australian commercial producers of invertebrate biological control agents from 1971 to 2014

“…BCAs has expanded even more rapidly since its beginnings in 1968, with its largest company employing about 600 people in 2011 (van Lenteren 2012) and has now expanded to about 1400 employees (van Lenteren et al 2017). Europe represents about 75% of the global market of US$200-260 million for invertebrate BCAs and has the widest range of commercial BCAs available (van Lenteren 2012; Tracy 2014) with more new agents being introduced to the market (van Lenteren et al 2017).…”

“…There are around 500 commercial companies globally producing nearly 350 invertebrate biological control agents (van Lenteren et al 2017). These companies produce arthropod predators and parasitoids, and entomopathogenic nematodes for the control of arthropod pests in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.…”

“…The global market for commercial invertebrate biological control agents (BCAs) increased from US$40 million in 1995 to US$190 million in 2003(Office of Technology Assessment 1995Guillon 2004). In 2015 the combined global value of invertebrate and microbial BCAs was about US$1.7 billion (van Lenteren et al 2017). Europe, followed by North America, remain the largest markets for commercially produced invertebrate BCAs but markets are growing in other regions such as Latin America and Africa (van Lenteren et al 2017).…”

“…In 2015 the combined global value of invertebrate and microbial BCAs was about US$1.7 billion (van Lenteren et al 2017). Europe, followed by North America, remain the largest markets for commercially produced invertebrate BCAs but markets are growing in other regions such as Latin America and Africa (van Lenteren et al 2017). For example, demand from exporters for commercial BCAs in South Africa and Kenya has led to the establishment of new commercial producers of invertebrate biological control agents (Cherry and Gwynn 2007).…”

“…The growth in market value, combined with the growing numbers of commercial BCAs and their suppliers, indicates that the practice of augmentative biological control is expanding (Cock et al 2010;Pilkington et al 2010;van Lenteren et al 2017). Some of the underlying reasons for expansion of the commercial biological control industry include development of insect resistance to pesticides, increased consumer awareness about the impact of pesticides on the environment and human health, export market regulations regarding pesticide residues, retailer demands for residue levels below minimum legal requirements, and changes in funding policy towards pesticide use (Cherry and Gwynn 2007;Pilkington et al 2010;van Lenteren et al 2017).…”