Integrated Pest Management and Biocontrol

1. Integrated Pest Management and Biocontrol Biotechnology

2. What is IPM? "Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks."

3. Reasons for IPM • Chemical pesticides can impact the human health and ecosystems • Example: DDT, a pesticide, can accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals and affect bird reproduction • Insects can become resistant to chemical pesticides • Approximately 500 species of insects are resistant to one or more pesticides

4. How does IPM work? Reduces the amount of chemical pesticides by: • Mechanical • Limits the pest's access to food, water and harborage sites • Example – Japanese beetle traps • Biological • Introduction of a natural enemy of the pest • Example – Lady bugs feed on aphids and can be Introduced to reduce the aphid population on crops • Chemical • Pesticide applications that have minimal risks associated with their use • Using the least amount of chemicals that will still be effective

5. What is Biological Control? • Pest suppression with biological agents operating in a background of integrated control that does not depend on • host resistance, • sterilization of the target pathogen, or • modification of pest behaviour Is Biological Control Biotechnology? Of course it is!

6. Biocontrol • Control of plant pathogens with other microbes • A biological control agent is known as an antagonist • Antagonism is general name for mechanisms of biological control

8. Biological Control Involves • Destruction of the propagative units or biomass of the pathogen. • Weakening or displacement of the pathogen in infested residue. • Reduction of vigour or virulence of the pathogen by agents such as mycoviruses.

9. Biological Control Agents • Microorganisms • Bacteria • Fungi • Nematodes • Viruses • Macroorganisms • Insects • Man • Animals

10. Biological Control Mechanisms • Competition – the BC agent more efficiently utilizes space and nutrients. • Antibiosis – the BC agent produces one or more deleterious compounds. • Parasitism – the BC agent utilizes the target for food or for reproduction. • Induced resistance – the BC agent indirectly stimulates the plant to be resistant.

11. How are Biological Agents Applied? • Importation • Augmentation • Conservation of Natural Enemies

12. Importation When the pathogen is exotic. Identify origin of pathogen or pest. Search for natural enemies Get USDA permission to import The alfalfa weevil is the most important insect pest of alfalfa Adult Bathyplectes anurus , a parasitoid of alfalfa weevil larvae. Damaged Alfalfa Adult weevil Bathyplectes wasp Larvae

13. Augmentation • Augmentation is the direct manipulation of natural enemies to increase their effectiveness. • Mass production and periodic release (colonization) is the most common approach. • Genetic enhancement • Augmentation is not permanent, and requires reapplication of the agent.

14. Conservation • Conservation is the identification and modification of any number of factors to increase the effectiveness of natural enemies.

15. Biological Control Targets • Agents that cause plant disease • Agents that cause plant damage • Weeds: Any plant that is growing where it is not wanted

16. Biopesticides • Pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals. • For example, canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal applications and are considered biopesticides.

17. 1. Microbial pesticides • Microorganism - entomopathogenic (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient. • Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively specific for its target pest[s]. • For example, there are fungi that control certain weeds, and other fungi that kill specific insects. • The most widely used microbial pesticides are subspecies and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. • Each strain of this bacterium produces a different mix of proteins, and specifically kills one or a few related species of insect larvae.

18. 2. Plant-Incorporated-Protectants (PIPs) • Plant-Incorporated-Protectants (PIPs) are pesticidal substances that plants produce from genetic material that has been added to the plant. • For example, raking the gene for the Bt pesticidal protein, and introducing the gene into the plant's own genetic material. • The plant, instead of the Bt bacterium, manufactures the substance that destroys the pest.

19. 3. Biochemical pesticides • Naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. • Biochemical pesticides include substances, such as insect sex pheromones (ecto-hormones/ alarm substances) , that interfere with mating, as well as various scented plant extracts that attract insect pests to traps. • Bacteriocins, proteinaceous toxins produced by bacteria to inhibit the growth of similar or closely related bacterial strain(s).

20. Benefits of Biological Controls • Usually cheaper to use than chemical controls • Don’t pollute the environment • Often kill only the pest, not beneficial insects