Insects can be fooled and harmful fungi and bacteria can be controlled by other fungi and bacteria. The efforts of Plant Research International are contributing to such biological control methods making great progress.This will reduce the consumption of chemical pesticides.
Crops are suffering from numerous living organisms: fungi, bacteria or insects. Some are gnawing at their roots and others are, e.g., causing diseases by infecting plants via leaf, fruit or seed. But there will always be other fungi or bacteria that are in turn attaching such pest organisms. Such attackers are called antagonists and biological control is based on this principle: control by living organisms. Our scientists are specifically searching for such organisms.
The search usually starts at the place where the pest organism is living. The best place for finding an antagonist against a soil pest or disease is of course the soil itself. The scientists are then screening many organisms for possible effect. During this selection the scientists are of course first investigating whether such an antagonist really controls the pathogen. They also study the ecology of the organism, e.g., whether it will survive under varying conditions or whether it is drought-tolerant. After a suitable candidate has been found, commercial production must still be proven possible, and authorisation as pesticide is still required.
New biological control agents
This procedure has already led to biological control agents that are now further tested by the industry. Together with the worldwide organisation of manufacturers of biological control agents (IBMA) our scientists have also drawn up a protocol – called SelectBioControl – that can be used by research, together with the industry, for developing new biological control agents.
For insect pests the scientists are following a different route, which is also aiding in reducing the consumption of chemical pesticides. They are developing signalling compounds that can lure insects to a trap. The number of insects in such a trap is indicating whether control at that point in time is necessary or not. This means that farmers or growers are only spraying when this is really necessary. Another strategy is the confusion of insects via those signalling compounds (sex pheromones) so that they can no longer mate. The insect population then no longer increases. A trap that contains a substance, such as a fungus, that kills the insects is another option. This last option is not yet applied in Europe.
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