Chapter 2 - Biocontrol: a novel eco-friendly mitigation strategy to manage plant diseases

Abstract

Agricultural strategies to feed all of individuals are an important challenge in twenty-first century. The green revolution has led to intensified agriculture to meet the ever increasing demands for food and fiber globally. Plant diseases are one of the major concerns in cultivation worldwide consequential in loss of billions of dollars of farm produce. Two-third of total diseased plants is infected by fungi. Farming practices, such as the cultivation of susceptible genotypes, the damaging of seedling at transplant, the inappropriate management of irrigation, and the lack of an appropriate crop rotation may have been responsible for the increase in the severity of soil-borne diseases. Chemical treatments cause technical environmental and economic problems. These limits of chemical control and the high concern for the preservation of the environment are the major reasons for the increased interest in the use of biological control. Biological control is a promising approach that may be effective, but still cannot be adapted fully It is currently defined by the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) as the use of agents or products that naturally affect crop pests and pathogens by limiting their propagation. The European order 2009/128/CE, which advances the decrease of pesticide use by creating non-chemical techniques for disease and pest management in agriculture including physical, mechanical and biological control, coordinates with this explanation. In this review, we focus on important roles and functions of different biocontrol agents in different environmental habitats supposed to be able to control various diseases in plants pathogen control and disease management can only be achieved through an integrative approach in which biological control can play a major role. The aim of this review is to present an overview of biological control mechanisms by different agents, the strengths and weaknesses, and their integration into a global disease management approach.