Research and Development In Crop Protection

In crop protection, a lot of research is being done on products extracted from natural and biological sources as a result of people being more and more aware of environmental issues. Throughout the world, only 10 % of the plants have been studied on a chemical basis: there is then very likely a great potential that many plant chemical components could be used as bioherbicides, especially since living organisms do not develop resistance as quickly and completely to natural products as compared with chemical products.

But what is a bioherbicide? In simple terms, it is a preparation of a living inoculum of a plant pathogen, formulated, and applied in a similar manner to that of chemical herbicides in an effort to control or suppress the growth of weed species.

Examples of bioherbicides that have been registered for weed control are DEVINER, a liquid formulation of Phytophthora palmivora that was registered in 1981 for control of stranglervine (Morrenia odorata) in Florida citrus groves and COLLEGOR, a dry powder formulation of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. aeschynomene, that was registered in 1982 for the control of Northern Jointvetch (Aeschynomene virginica) in rice and soybeans in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. (Watson, 1989)

The use of bioherbicides will be more common in location and application situations where pesticide regulations are most restrictive. But bioherbicides also have limitations: they are less efficient in fighting against insects and pathogens compared to chemical pesticides, they are only effective 48 hours after their application (while it takes only a few seconds for non-biological products) and that the residual effect of the biological product does not last as long.

In Québec, products from plant sources used in crop protection are mainly:

Trends | Intro to Integrated Pest Management
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