You may incur significant expenses studying, choosing, testing and. Biological control can be less or more expensive than pesticides. You may incur significant expenses studying, choosing, testing and breeding a bioagent. However, where bioagents are applied to low-level pest populations, pest control can be long-term and economical.
Some fungi attack insects and kill them. A fungal spore penetrates the insect and grows along it. It takes about a week for the insect to die. Fungi are cost-effective unless a high application rate is needed for severe insect infestations.
Further information on the control of declared plants can be found through the link to the declared plant control manual. The biological control agent (BCA) can be deployed in the agricultural ecosystem, so as not to harm non-target pests, it depends on appropriate host-specificity tests that determine the potential range of hosts. When gardeners introduce ladybugs into their gardens to control aphid colonies, they are practicing biological control; in this case, ladybugs are the biological control agents. Similarly, planting mint to keep spiders away from entrances, uses mint as a biological control agent and is actually a form of conservation, biocontrol or habitat manipulation.
A study has estimated that a successful biocontrol program returns £32 in profits for every £1 invested in program development and implementation, i. Unlike some cases of chemical pesticide programs, biocontrol reduces, but does not eradicate, pest populations. It can be fickle, you can't control any natural enemy, you let loose in an ecosystem. While it is supposed to handle a pest, your predator will switch to a different target, they may decide to eat your crops instead of the insects that infest them, but when you introduce a new species to the environment, there is a risk of disrupt the natural food chain.
Biological control is the attractive alternative to agrochemicals, the use of ecological alternatives to chemical pesticides is absolutely necessary in agriculture, no chemicals are used, so there is less pollution, disruption of the food chain% 26% risk to people who eat the food that is has sprayed. If all the right precautions are taken, including the use of no more than the recommended level, chemical pest control can be used effectively. Pests do not become resistant, there is no environmental pollution, if the biological control body is introduced, it does not have to be reintroduced, chemical pesticides must be used repeatedly, therefore, more expenses% 26 time consumed, biological control limits the further use of pesticides. Biological pest control does not have an adverse effect on human health or the environment, is self-sufficient, can be cost-effective, when the cost of the test has been met & of introduction of control agents, ongoing costs are small, There is no need to find & identify each individual weed treated, an effective agent will look for all the right plants from the undergrowth.
Another benefit of the biological control method is the environmental safety of BCAs, the pest cannot (or is very slow) develop resistance, biological control can be cost-effective, its effectiveness is based on self-perpetuation & self-propagation, so if we establish a control agent in a specific area, it will reduce the target pest at an acceptable threshold for quite some time. Biological control is unpredictable, Its unpredictability lies primarily in the fact that natural enemies depend on environmental conditions. Deploying BCA in a new environment requires a lot of research to achieve desirable results due to climate constraints. The most obvious advantage of this method over pesticides is that the natural balance in the ecosystem remains quite unchanged.
Plants, predators, and natural deterrents used in biological control are called biological control agents. . .
