CABI shares expertise on biological control agents and biostimulants at FAO open-ended workshop

CABI has shared its expertise on Biological Control (BC) and biostimulants at an opened-ended workshop which was co-organized by CABI, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Organisation for Biological Control (IOBC), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at its headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The event was held to inform the meeting of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture’s intergovernmental Technical Working Group (TWG) on Microorganisms and Invertebrate Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which was held right after.

As part of ongoing efforts to increase global food security threatened by crop pests and diseases, the TWG considered, among other things, what could be done to promote the sustainable use of microbial and invertebrate and microbial biostimulants.

This is to help tackle issues, such as the European and Asian corn borer on maize, the invasive rubber-vine weed Cryptostegia grandiflora in Australia, and cassava mealybug in many parts of Africa, using augmentative, classical and conservation biological control methods.

Sustainably manage crop pests, improve livelihoods and food security

Dr Ulrich Kuhlmann, Dr Urs Schaffner, Dr Joseph Mulema and Dr Hariet Hinz, attended the workshop on behalf of CABI.

Dr Kuhlmann, Executive Director, Global Operations, said in his opening remarks, ″Due to increasing plant health threats, the global demand for and production and use of pesticides have increased steadily during the past decades and are projected to continue.

″Adverse impacts of pesticides have been well documented on human health and the environment including its biodiversity. A range of alternatives to replace chemical pesticides are available and in use, including other less toxic chemical pesticides and biological control agents and biostimulants.

″Biological control is a sustainable alternative to chemical pest management and provides social, economic, and environmental benefits. One of the most common approaches implemented is Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which includes biological control.″

Improve the uptake of biological control

The CABI scientists addressed the question of ‘What needs to be done to improve the uptake of biological control’ to mitigate crop pests and diseases as part of an IPM approach.

Dr Kuhlmann, said, ″There are many challenges which hinder the uptake of biological control. These include a lack of awareness across the agricultural value chain, including growers, agricultural advisors, agri-input dealers, and policy makers, about existing biological control methods, their benefits, their application requirements and how to embed in an IPM system.″

He said other constraints include stringent and often slow regulatory processes which hinder the approval of biological control agents, and, in some countries, appropriate regulatory processes are non-existent.

Classical biological control of weeds and insect pests

Dr Hinz, Global Director, Invasive Species, highlighted the excellent safety record of biological control and cost: benefit ratios of 1 : up to 1,600 for cassava mealybug in Africa and water lettuce in Sri Lanka.

She went on to present two examples from CABI, the successful control of the environmental wetland weed purple loosestrife in North America, and the emerging success of the biological control of papaya mealybug in East Africa.

The latter was acknowledged by several participants afterwards. She said, ″Papaya mealybug caused £2,224/ha household economic losses annually, threatening the livelihoods of small holder farmers. But with the release of a small parasitic wasp, the pest is now managed in Kenya and Uganda, with yield increases by nearly 50%.

″There is a need to ensure the continuing exchange of natural enemies for biological control, especially for countries of the global south, but also a need to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of biological control.″

Dr Urs Schaffner shared a presentation on the contribution of biological control to One Health, which includes plant, animal, human and environmental health. One of his examples was around prosopis, an invasive tree in Eastern Africa, which has not only been shown to reduce local biodiversity, including medicinal species, but also to promote the malaria parasite transmission capacity of African malaria vector mosquitoes, and is responsible for consuming more than 50% of the annual rainfall in the Afar Region in Ethiopia.

Management of Prosopis, including biocontrol, therefore, contributes to all dimensions of One Health. This is highlighted in the paper ‘Biological control for One Health,’ led by Dr Schaffner, published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.

Shared with others to improve yields in global agriculture

CABI, in 2018, stepped up measures to ensure its research with genetic resources from around the world can be shared with others to improve yields in global agriculture while at the same time supporting the conservation of biodiversity.

In complying with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), it created a team of CABI ABS ‘Champions’ in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America to liaise with host countries so CABI can carry out its work in compliance with local needs.

Dr Joseph Mulema presented an example from Kenya on the sustainable ABS of biological control genetic resources for classical biological control.

Godfrey Magwenzi, Director Cabinet at FAO, summed up the whole ethos of biological control when he said at the workshop that ‘Biocontrol is a testimony or working with nature and not against it.″

One of the ways in which CABI helps to advocate and increase the uptake of biological control is through the CABI BioProtection Portal.

The CABI BioProtection Portal is the largest, free global resource for biological pest management. It features a searchable directory of nationally registered biocontrol and biopesticide products alongside comprehensive information to help agricultural advisors and growers to source and effectively use sustainable natural products within integrated pest management programmes.