Plant Pest Biocontrol and its Status in Ethiopia

Abstract

Biological control is a method of controlling pests (including insects, mites, weeds and plant diseases) using other living organisms. There are three basic types of biological pest control strategies: importation (sometimes called classical biological control), augmentation and conservation. Natural enemies of the pests, also known as biological control agents, include predatory and parasitic insects, predatory vertebrates, nematode parasites, protozoan parasites, and fungal, bacterial, as well as viral pathogens. The best known bacterial biological control which can be introduced in order to control butterfly caterpillars is Bacillus thuringiensis. Viruses most frequently considered for the control of insects (usually sawflies and Lepidoptera) are the occluded viruses, namely NPV, cytoplasmic polyhedrosis (CPV), granulosis (GV), and entomopox viruses (EPN), the fungus Trichoderma viride. This has been used against Dutch elm disease, and to treat the spread of fungal and bacterial growth on tree wounds. The significance of Biological control agents are non– polluting and thus environmentally safe and acceptable. Usually they are species specific to targeted pest and weeds. The biological control discourages the use of environmentally and ecologically unsuitable chemicals, so it always leads to the establishment of natural balance. Ethiopia is one of the countries that use plant pest biocontrol methods mostly for weeds