209
Biopesticides and the Toolbox Approach
12.4 Other Alternatives to Synthetic Pesticides
The excitement over biopesticides, semiochemical communication cues, and
other alternative controls, which was evident in the 1970s when the thirdgeneration pest control movement was launched (Williams, 1967), is now
regaining momentum. Over half of the new registrations for pesticides and
pest control agents at EPA are for products associated with the features of
biopesticides, and the market share is growing for these products (Cantrell
et al., 2012).
High-throughput screening methods, nano-based encapsulation methods,
and further development of semiochemicals for both monitoring and population control of pests offer promise for further developments. Semiochemicals
are already far along in crop protection applications. Pheromones or synthetic analogs are widely used to survey for pest populations so that insecticide applications can be timed and positioned to be most effective. Mass
trapping or confusion approaches have also been used with some success,
using pheromones or synthetic or naturally occurring alternatives that disrupt pest insect populations. An example is the pheromone and a naturally
occurring alternative with pheromone-like attractant activity found in pear
leaves that can aid in control of codling moth in apple, pear, walnut, almond,
and other crops susceptible to economic damage by codling moth (Light and
Beck, 2010). Controlling this damaging pest, and other boring insects that
affect cotton seed and peanuts, is a critical element in controlling invasion
of Aspergillus fungi, which can infect pome fruit, nuts, or seeds and produce afatoxins—a group of carcinogenic fungal metabolites. A combination
of afatoxin in foods and a hepatitis B-susceptible human population such as
exists in many parts of Africa and Asia can lead to high levels of liver cancer
and elevated mortality—a major public health and food safety concern. This
is an example of how the use of effective pest control carries with it the added
beneft of reducing the carcinogen load due to toxic natural products such as
afatoxins in the food supply—a topic of food safety (Wild and Hall, 2000).
12.5 GMO Crops
Chemical control of pests is widely practiced, but more and more the use
of crops and animals genetically improved to resist pests (insects, disease,
nematodes, and weeds) are being explored and developed to offset chemical
usage while protecting valuable food sources, in wheat, rice, and with many
other crop staples and in food animals. In some cases, resistance genes are
engineered into the crop, giving farmers new genetic resources for insect
resistance (e.g., Bt toxin genes in corn and soybeans). In these improved
Biopesticides and the Toolbox Approach
12.4 Other Alternatives to Synthetic Pesticides
The excitement over biopesticides, semiochemical communication cues, and
other alternative controls, which was evident in the 1970s when the thirdgeneration pest control movement was launched (Williams, 1967), is now
regaining momentum. Over half of the new registrations for pesticides and
pest control agents at EPA are for products associated with the features of
biopesticides, and the market share is growing for these products (Cantrell
et al., 2012).
High-throughput screening methods, nano-based encapsulation methods,
and further development of semiochemicals for both monitoring and population control of pests offer promise for further developments. Semiochemicals
are already far along in crop protection applications. Pheromones or synthetic analogs are widely used to survey for pest populations so that insecticide applications can be timed and positioned to be most effective. Mass
trapping or confusion approaches have also been used with some success,
using pheromones or synthetic or naturally occurring alternatives that disrupt pest insect populations. An example is the pheromone and a naturally
occurring alternative with pheromone-like attractant activity found in pear
leaves that can aid in control of codling moth in apple, pear, walnut, almond,
and other crops susceptible to economic damage by codling moth (Light and
Beck, 2010). Controlling this damaging pest, and other boring insects that
affect cotton seed and peanuts, is a critical element in controlling invasion
of Aspergillus fungi, which can infect pome fruit, nuts, or seeds and produce afatoxins—a group of carcinogenic fungal metabolites. A combination
of afatoxin in foods and a hepatitis B-susceptible human population such as
exists in many parts of Africa and Asia can lead to high levels of liver cancer
and elevated mortality—a major public health and food safety concern. This
is an example of how the use of effective pest control carries with it the added
beneft of reducing the carcinogen load due to toxic natural products such as
afatoxins in the food supply—a topic of food safety (Wild and Hall, 2000).
12.5 GMO Crops
Chemical control of pests is widely practiced, but more and more the use
of crops and animals genetically improved to resist pests (insects, disease,
nematodes, and weeds) are being explored and developed to offset chemical
usage while protecting valuable food sources, in wheat, rice, and with many
other crop staples and in food animals. In some cases, resistance genes are
engineered into the crop, giving farmers new genetic resources for insect
resistance (e.g., Bt toxin genes in corn and soybeans). In these improved