Hurdles and bottlenecks on the road to biocontrol of plant pathogens

Abstract

Despite the progress in biocontrol research that has placed about 40 commercially available biocontrol products on the shelf, many hurdles to the wide adoption of biocontrol remain. Biocontrol works well under conditions of low biological diversity, such as in soil-less potting mix, but is more difficult to demonstrate in the field, and biocontrol is often less consistent than chemical control. Is biocontrol not working, or is it our inability to deliver and establish the biocontrol organism in the appropriate physiological state, in the right place at the right time? A greater understanding of the ecology of the organisms involved, as well as the epidemiology of the system, will help us to develop ecologically rational approaches to disease management. More efficient and effective ways of growing and formulating biocontrol organisms are needed in many cases in order to make biocontrol economically viable. Research on safety and environmental fate of biocontrol agents is lacking in some cases. Trends that may encourage more research into biocontrol of plant diseases include the increased public interest in ‘organic’ foods, the public’s concern over non-target effects of chemical pesticides in the environment, and the loss of many chemical pesticides, or uses of those pesticides, from the market.