Current status of biological control of soil‐borne diseases

Abstract

Abstract. Biological control by manipulating agricultural practices has been used for thousands of years. In the more restricted sense, of adding antagonistic micro‐organisms, biological control is still a very small part of the chemical pesticide market, but reliable products are becoming available. Achieving consistent results in realistic agricultural conditions is a problem, but there is a good possibility of controlling root diseases, especially where the soil characteristics or the environmental conditions can be controlled. The use of biological control in integrated control is successful, and in the long‐term genetic engineering techniques will be important in the development of biological control. Environmental safety and effective patent protection are still being developed, but there seem to be no insuperable problems.