This article highlights the role of sustainable farming by using natural methods to combat pests.
Introduction
Farmers today need to produce more food on less land, and to a higher standard. That means that within crop protection, they can’t use the same products we were using last decade. From pest resistance to tightening regulations on chemical pesticides, many of these last-generation pesticides are not living up to the new environmental and human-health standards of today's age.
This brings us to biological crop protection or biocontrol. This is a sustainable alternative that harnesses nature's power to protect crops, edging closer to a ‘one health’ concept. Biological crop protection involves using naturally existing macro or microorganisms (or parts of them) to augment an ‘ecosystem service’ rather than spraying a foreign chemical as direct hit-and-kill. Because biocontrol solutions are taken from nature, the resulting products are often alive, and therefore able to provide microscopic-level services for our soils and plants. However, because these products are living, achieving consistent results across a diversity of plants, cropping systems, soils, and climates can be difficult.
However, whether you are a believer in biological crop protection or not, one thing is clear; with the direction taken by regulation and consumer demands, the data coming back on global soil health, and the increasing technical advancements within this product space; the biological philosophy is gaining ground and here to stay.
So what are biocontrols anyways?
Biocontrol products are substances derived from natural sources, including microorganisms, plants, and animals, and that are used in farming for crop protection. These products, are often promoted for their sustainability and environmental benefits, but let’s take a closer look at what they are and what they have to offer.
How Biocontrol Works
Biocontrol products function through various ecological and biochemical mechanisms to protect crops, restore soil health, and enhance ecosystem resilience. The solutions in this space can be living or non-living, derived from microbial or natural sources, and their action is broadly classified into direct antagonism and indirect antagonism. Understanding these mechanisms is helpful for optimizing their application and achieving consistent results.
Live Microbial Biocontrol Agents:
These products rely on living macro or microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses, which must survive and establish themselves in the field to exert their effects.They are high specificity and adapt dynamically to changing conditions, however, they are also sensitive to environmental conditions, such as temperature and moisture, and may have limited shelf lives.
Example: Beauveria bassiana, a fungal biocontrol agent, infects and kills insect pests like whiteflies and thrips. It is widely used in greenhouses and organic farming.
Non-Living Biocontrol Agents:
These include products derived from microbial metabolites or natural compounds. Unlike live agents, these do not rely on the survival of living organisms to function, which translates into more consistent efficacy under various conditions as well as extended shelf lives. Compared to the living solutions, they lack the dynamic feedback loops, micro-environmental dosing, and self-replicating properties of living organisms.
Example: Spinosad is a natural substance derived from the fermentation of Saccharopolyspora spinosa, a soil-dwelling bacterium. Products like Entrust® and Success® are widely used in organic and conventional farming.To be extra confusing, many products contain microorganisms that are dead together with their secondary metabolites. While technically these products behave and should be used as biochemicals, the product in this case is allowed to be advertised as a live-microbial product. It is unclear whether this is a failure to successfully preserve the life of the microbe, or if this is a marketing opportunity that thus far has not been regulated by law-makers.
Direct antagonism involves the active suppression of pests or pathogens by a biocontrol agent through direct interaction. These mechanisms often lead to the immediate inhibition or destruction of the target organism.
Applications of living microorganisms like Bacillus subtilis (bacteria) and Trichoderma harzianum (fungus) produce secondary metabolites such as antibiotics and enzymes that inhibit or degrade pathogenic microbes. These are produced at a microscopic level, under specific circumstances and have feedback loops that mean their levels within the micro-environment are appropriate.
Indirect antagonism involves enhancing the plant's own defenses or altering the environment to make it less favorable for pests and pathogens.
Induction of Plant Resistance: Applying certain microbes can “prime” plants to activate their natural defense mechanisms. For example, microbes like Pseudomonas fluorescens (bacteria) stimulate systemic resistance, enabling plants to respond more effectively to future infections.
Competition for Resources: Biocontrol agents outcompete pathogens for nutrients or colonization sites on plant roots or leaves, forming a protective barrier that inhibits pathogen colonization. This interaction not only suppresses diseases but also promotes nutrient uptake and root development.
Within the EU, biocontrol products are categorized into four main types, each offering distinct advantages for pest and disease management:
Microbials
Natural Substances
Semiochemicals
Invertebrates
These categories provide diverse tools for farmers seeking sustainable solutions. Let’s take a closer look at each type, their mechanisms, and examples of successful products in real-world cropping systems.
1. Microbials: Microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, protists, bacteriophages, and baculoviruses and that work by directly antagonizing pathogens (e.g., producing antimicrobial compounds) or indirectly by enhancing plant defenses or competing for resources.
Examples:
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) used against caterpillar pests.
Trichoderma harzianum used for root disease management.
Baculoviruses used in pest-specific viral sprays like Nucleopolyhedrovirus for caterpillars in forests and orchards.
2. Natural Substances: Natural substances are compounds derived from natural sources, such as plants, minerals, or microbial metabolites, that do not rely on living organisms for their action. These substances act by disrupting pest behavior, inhibiting development, or repelling pests.
Examples:
Neem oil, extracted from the neem tree, disrupts the life cycle of insects such as whiteflies and aphids.
Pyrethrins, derived from chrysanthemum flowers, act as natural insecticides for flies and beetles.
3. Semiochemicals: Naturally occurring or synthetic compounds that alter the behavior of pests, primarily through chemical signaling. This category includes pheromones and allelochemicals used for mating disruption, aggregation, or as attractants for trapping pests.
Examples:
Codling moth pheromone dispensers disrupt moth mating in apple orchards.
Mass trapping systems using synthetic fruit fly attractants are widely used in Mediterranean fruit orchards.
4. Invertebrates: Beneficial insects, mites, and nematodes that act as biological control agents by preying on or parasitizing pest species. They directly suppress pest populations through predation or parasitism, reducing pest densities without the use of chemicals.
Examples:
Tamarixia radiata, a parasitic wasp, is released to control the Asian citrus psyllid in citrus orchards.
Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) are widely used to control aphid populations in greenhouse and field crops.
Evaluating biocontrol products
If you read to understand nothing else in this article, please read and understand this! Biocontrol products are rooted in the principles of ecology, leveraging interactions between organisms to suppress pests or diseases. This also means that their efficacy often depends on environmental factors, like the complexity of the soil microbiome or the type of root exudates secreted by the plant. Traditional agricultural products (non-living, chemistry-based) have been evaluated by yield increase and, occasionally, yield quality - logical and important parameters. However, the rise of biological products has catalyzed a vision of new standards that include forgotten or neglected benefits ranging from the recovery of healthy soil microbiomes to the return of nesting bird populations. Imagine a product that not only provided the fertilizer/diseased treatment, it also enhanced your soil quality and natural ecology on the farm! If products were held to this standard, we would have to broaden our evaluation criteria when assessing biological control products - which is the shift we’re navigating now.
In line with the ecological aspect of these products, the efficiency of a single biocontrol product is rarely in the range of a single chemistry-based product*. Instead, biological products work best within the framework of an integrated pest management system (IPM). Therefore it’s important to understand that as a stand-alone product, the chemical treatments will always have the stronger claim when protecting against pests and diseases. For example, a statement like “reduces pest populations by 80% within 24 hours of application” would be very unlikely for a biological product (though potentially a biochemical could achieve this), but here we neglect the persistence of these products in the soil and on consumable products, its effects on soil microbes, birds etc. Whereas, if the mode-of-action fits closer to that of an ‘ecosystem service’, it needs time to integrate and take effect, but leaves few to no residues with fewer off-target effects. These parameters have a new emphasis amongst stakeholders and within society in the past years and necessitate a new way of thinking about the selection and application of agricultural products.
The Triangle of Integrated Pest Management (IPM): A strategic framework highlighting the foundational role of biological control as the cornerstone of sustainable pest management. This visual emphasizes the integration of cultural, physical, biological, and chemical methods to achieve effective and environmentally friendly pest control solutions. Source: IBMA (International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association).
*There are biological products that are chemistry-based, such as secondary metabolites (chemicals) produced by beneficial microbes or pheromones produced by plants and insects. These products are chemicals of biological origin and can achieve high efficiency levels under optimal conditions, with fewer environmental dependencies when compared to living microorganisms and ecosystem services.
Market Overview: Biocontrol Growth and Challenges
The global biological crop protection market is currently an estimated 11 billion dollars compared to a 66 billion dollar synthetic chemical market. However, the CAGR of these two segments is on average 15-17%8 and 2-4% respectively, putting biological crop protection at a market value of 66 billion within two decades. If that's not incentive enough to jump on, one could also consider that a synthetic chemical pesticide currently costs 203 million from discovery to production5, while many biological types are averaging at approximately 1/10th of this cost. For governing bodies, one could also think of the long-term savings by avoiding soil resuscitation and water clean up that comes along with chemical inputs.
The biological crop protection market in Europe has reached €1.6 billion in 2022, representing 10% of the total crop protection market, again with growth rates of biocontrol (10% CAGR) surpassing conventional pesticides (2-4% CAGR)1. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the driving force behind this innovation, dominating 70% of the market share in categories like microbials, semiochemicals, and invertebrates1.
Key Growth Drivers:
Major barriers:
Barriers to biocontrol product uptake have historically been due to inconsistency (remember, they need to interact successfully with their environment) which translated into lower overall effectiveness. However, with technological advancements and better, more comprehensive IPM protocols, many biocontrol products are reportedly working to a degree that farmers are repurchasing the products - especially fantastic as soil and ecosystem benefits have the potential to increase with repeated use.
Future Biological Spend: Global farmer intentions by region highlights a strong global interest in biologicals with 90 percent of farmers expected to maintain or increase spending on biological products. Source: McKinsey Global Farmer Insights 2024
However, in the EU, the biggest obstacle for adoption of biological products is not the efficiency, shelf life, or price point of the product; it is the availability of products. EU regulations are often cited as a barrier, with approval timelines spanning 8-10 years, compared to 2-4 years in the U.S. and Canada6. EU regulation for biocontrol products uses the same backbone as the regulation for synthetic chemicals, and has not been able to adjust its protocols to the specifics and complexities of biology-based solutions. For example, products based on a novel microbial species or a consortium of microbes continues to cause major delays, large expenses, and is seen as a major business risk in case they are not approved. Devastatingly, building novel product concepts like incorporating strain updates, or using local strains for local application (which makes the most sense for the biology!) are thus far impossible to get approved - or at least it has not been achieved yet. Despite that these novel concepts make biological sense and have the potential to provide a superior product function, to invest in an innovative solution like this would mean a decade of waiting time with no revenue - so most chose simply not to pursue it or to pursue it elsewhere in the world, e.g. Brasil.
Globally, the regulation and standards for biocontrol products range depending on the regulating bodies, and there are, for example, quite different testing protocols requested from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) compared to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply (MAPA) in Brasil is being praised for their ability to register biological products significantly faster than other regions of the world, which is believed to be a major driver in the very high uptake of biological products in their agricultural sector2,3.
Adoption trends for biostimulants, biofertilizers, and biocontrol solutions (2022 vs. 2024): Brazil leads in the adoption of biostimulants with significant growth, while biocontrol solutions show strong uptake in Europe. The chart highlights current usage and planned adoption rates across key agricultural regions, emphasizing the growing global focus on sustainable practices. Source: McKinsey Global Farmer Insights 2024.
Conclusion
Within agriculture, we’re used to rolling up our sleeves and tackling challenges head-on. But sometimes, the smartest move is to let nature do what it does best. Biocontrol isn’t just another tool in the box—it’s a way of farming that works with the environment instead of against it, creating healthier crops, richer soils, and cleaner ecosystems.
The world is shifting, and farming is evolving. Biocontrol isn’t just a trend—it’s a testament to what’s possible when science and agriculture align with the rhythms of nature. So, whether you’re experimenting with a new microbial inoculant or trialing pheromone traps for the first time, you’re not just protecting your crops—you’re investing in the future of farming.
Let’s embrace the change. After all, if nature’s already figured out how to deal with pests, why not give it the reins? It’s time to grow smarter, farm cleaner, and let biocontrol prove that sometimes, the best solutions are the ones nature wrote herself.
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