Abstract
Simple SummaryThis review describes the advances in BC for use in open fields in Brazil. These advances make our country a model for this type of pest control, especially since 1980, with the development of improved rearing techniques. In association with private companies, the use of BC has grown more than in the rest of the world, advancing by about 10–15% each year.This article describes the importance of rearing insects, whether on a small scale for research or a large scale for mass rearing, for use in biological control (BC) programs with macro-organisms. These inter- or multidisciplinary research programs are necessarily long-term and depend on rearing techniques for their complete development. Some successful examples of BC in Brazil are presented, including case studies of Trichogramma spp. These required broad bioecological studies that provided the basis for both mass rearing and transfer of the necessary technology to farmers. This has allowed Brazil to occupy a leadership position in biological control in “Open Fields”. For example, about three million ha are being treated with Trichogramma galloi (a native parasitoid), and about three and a half million ha with Cotesia flavipes (an exotic parasitoid) to control Diatraea saccharalis, the sugarcane borer. These natural enemies are produced by commercial firms, or by laboratories in sugar and alcohol plants themselves, in the case of C. flavipes.
Highlights
Brazil is a leader in tropical agriculture, with a forecasted production of 289.7 million tons of agricultural commodities in 2020–2021, reached through technology developed in this country [1]
The mindset of using agrochemicals for pest control prevailed among Brazilian farmers for a long period, Brazil imported the first natural enemy in 1921 for use in a classical biological control (BC) program [2,3]
This review describes the advances in BC, for use in open fields in Brazil
Summary
Brazil is a leader in tropical agriculture, with a forecasted production of 289.7 million tons of agricultural commodities in 2020–2021, reached through technology developed in this country [1]. Species of Trichogramma Westwood (Hym.: Trichogrammatidae) are used in varying numbers of 50 to 400 thousand individuals per ha in cotton, corn, avocado, citrus, soybean, tomato, and other crops to control lepidopterans [3]. Use of these tiny wasps is made possible by the production of eggs of their factitious host Anagasta kuehniella Zeller (Lep.: Pyralidae), in quantities of up to 30–40 kg of eggs per day (1 g = 36,000 eggs). This review describes the advances in BC, for use in open fields in Brazil These advances have made our country a model for this type of pest control, especially since 1980, with the development of improved rearing techniques. BC in Brazil includes the use of both micro- and macro-organisms, the latter being the subject of this review [6,7]
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