Biological control products in a changing landscape

摘要

The history of applied biological control can be separated into three distinct eras, each characterised by different technologies, industrial efforts and socioeconomic conditions. The successes and failures of each era provide guidance for future efforts in both applied and basic biological control research. In the long history of biological control, which by some estimates dates back over 2,000 years, the development of commercial products, which began in earnest only in the 1950s, represents a meresnippet of time. However, it is in this short period that years of effort in biological control research have come to fruition in the form of biological control products (BCPs) used around the world - from the release of Trichogramma egg parasitoids on32 million hectares in 30 countries (van Lenteren, 2000), to the planting of over 100 million hectares of crops engineered to produce Bacillus thuringiensis toxins (James, 2004). Onchocerciasis has been eliminated from seven West African countries usingan integrated programme that includes Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Guillet et al 1990) and pesticide use has been reduced by 80 - 95% in European glasshouse vegetable production using beneficial macroorganisms (van Lenteren, 2000). There is no doubt that, despite the relatively brief period of time in which they have played a role in agriculture, biological control products—whether they are microbial biopesticides, beneficial macroorganisms, semiochemicals or botanical products—have had asignificant and positive impact.