Biological control

Biological control occurs when pests are controlled by non-pest organisms that inhabit the surrounding crop(s), or nearby habitat.

Biological control agents include:

It is an important component of an IPM system as biological control agents have a number of advantages:

  1. In many cases they are already present and merely require appropriate management strategies (e.g. using selective insecticides where possible) to improve effectiveness
  2. Many are host-specific, allowing targeting of specific pests, and reducing the risk of pest resurgence
  3. Some may reduce or prevent population increases in secondary pests
  4. They provide the opportunity to manage pests with high levels of tolerance to chemical products

The Good Bugs website (http://goodbugs.org.au/) provides information on commercial insect, mite and nematode bio-control agents currently available in Australia and New Zealand.

Further information

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