Social Cost Analysis of Biological Control Technology for Crop Diseases and Insect Pests

With the rapid development of modern agriculture,the prevention and control of crop diseases and insect pests has become an important part to ensure the safety of agricultural production,the quality of agricultural products and the safety of agricultural ecological environment.Although the effect of traditional chemical prevention and control technology is remarkable,the health risks and environmental problems brought by it should not be ignored.As a green and environmentally friendly means of prevention and control,biological prevention and control technology has gradually become a hot research topic and a trend of agricultural production.This paper is intended to comprehensively evaluate the social costs of biological control technologies for crop diseases and pests,including the health risks reduced,environmental improvements,economic benefits,and barriers to promotion,and put forward corresponding policy recommendations.

Secondary Metabolites of Entomopathogenic Fungi, Biological Alternative for the Control of Agricultural Pests and Disease: Present and Perspectives

The use of entomopathogenic fungi (EF) in recent years has been highly effective against the different orders of insects considered pests of agricultural importance and their conidia have been commonly applied, but it has been reported that these are sensitive to the environmental conditions. For this reason, biopesticides products have been formulated based on secondary metabolites, recently. These biomolecules participate as biological control agent, such as: cyclic depsipeptides, amino acids, polyketides, polyphenols and terpenoids, affecting their morphology, life cycle and insect behavior. The use of secondary metabolites of entomopathogenic fungi opens the possibility of application in a more efficient way for the control of agricultural pests in a compatible with the environment and human health;therefore, it is important to know, analyzing the type of molecules, their effects, and their different methods of application.

High Yield Cultivation and Pest Control Technology of Cashew

In order to enhance the yield and quality of cashew,it is essential to implement high-yield cultivation techniques effectively throughout the production process.Additionally,pest control measures should be employed to provide technical support for the industrialized development of cashew.

Evaluation of the Efficacy of an Aloe barbadensis Based Biological Insecticide against Pests of Abelmochus esculentus for Promoting Ecological Agriculture (Far-North, Cameroon)

Chemical insecticides have been considered as a means to combat crop pests. Although their effectiveness is evident, their impact on the environment is increasingly being discussed. The aim of this study is to determine the agro-ecological potential of a biological insecticide (C25H32O12) based on Aloe barbadensis in a Sahelian context. For this purpose, a completely randomized block experimental design with 3 replications and 4 treatments was set up to experiment with Aloe barbadensis as a bioinsecticide against pests of Abelmoschus esculentus. However, data were collected using an observation and parameter monitoring grid. This includes the cultivation of Abelmoschus esculentus, soil preparation, seeding and watering, plot labeling, preparation of the bioinsecticide (selection and preparation of raw materials, grinding of Aloe barbadensis miller and extraction of the crude bioinsecticide, quantification of treatment doses and dilution, and obtaining the formulated bioinsecticide), plant watering, plant treatment, and finally parameter monitoring. The results obtained reveal that the level of damage is significantly high in the control treatment T0 (63%) compared to the other treatments, with 29% for treatment T1, 7% for T2, and 1% for T3, implying a strong action capability of this insecticide against pests of Abelmoschus esculentus. Therefore, it can be concluded that for a normal growing season of Abelmoschus esculentus, this biological insecticide should be sprayed 12 times. Furthermore, this biological insecticide is unique in that it does not inflict any gastric toxicity on the pests, which gives it the characteristic of being a repellent. It is a biological insecticide whose efficacy period has been tested, with a minimum duration of 21 days. In conclusion, this formulated bioinsecticide based on Aloe barbadensis demonstrates significant efficacy against pests of Abelmoschus esculentus. In the future, we will consider experimenting with its effectiveness against pests of other plants.

Study of the Constraints of Millet Production (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) and the Peasant Perception of Biological Control in the Tahoua Region

Millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is the Sahelian crop par excellence due to its adaptation to the particular production conditions in this region. Unfortunately, in recent years this crop has been threatened by very strong parasitic pressure and drought during the production period. The objective of this study is to analyze the main constraints of millet production and the solutions known to producers. A survey was carried out in November 2022 with a sample of 298 producers in five municipalities in the Tahoua region. The main constraints are drought and pressure from crop pests (locust, millet ear miner, floricultural insects) according to 57.9% of respondents. The millet ear miner is the most formidable pest according to 55% of respondents. Thus, the average yield obtained in a year of good production without the leafminer is 194 kg/ha and that obtained in a year of millet ear leafminer is around 27 kg to 43 kg/ha depending on the municipality. The yield obtained this last campaign after the attack of this leafminer varies from 64 to 77 kg/ha depending on the municipalities compared to a potential yield of over 1000 kg/ha. More than half of producers (58.1%) are unaware of the existence of biological control compared to only 12.5% who are aware of this alternative method. Work to popularize this technology is necessary in the five municipalities and the entire region in general.

Tending Management and Pest Control Measures of Pinus koraiensis during Its Growth Period

Tending management and pest control directly affect forest construction.Not only sustainable growth of timber but also continuous and permanent use of green mountains and water can be achieved by providing tending management measures for sustainable operations and implementing effective pest control measures.According to the demand of production practice,this paper studies the tending management and pest control measures of Pinus koraiensis forest during its growth period,so as to provide important scientific support for improving the quality of P.koraiensis forest in the future.

Control Efficiency of Four Biological Pesticides against Pieris rapae Linne and Their Impacts on Yield and Benefit of Chinese Cabbage

[ Objective] The paper was to screen out ideal biological pesticides, in order to provide guidance for pollution-free control against Pieris rapae Linne. [Method] Taking Chinese cabbage variety Taiyuan Erqing as the test material, the field control efficiencies of four pesticides including PrGV · Bt WP 1 000 times dilution, NPV · Bt SC 750 times dilution, 0.5% azadirachtin EC 750 times dilution, and 0.3% matrine AS 500 times dilution against P. rapae were studied, and their impacts on yield and planting benefits of Chinese cabbage were also determined. Using foliar spray method, the pesticides were sprayed for the first time when the second or third instar larvae of P. rapae first occurred in fields, and sprayed for the second time with the interval of 15 d. The fields sprayed with beta-cypermethrin EC （organic chemical pesticide） and water were set as control. [ Result] NPV · Bt SC 750 times dilution had the best effect after spraying for two times： the control efficiency against P. rapae at 15 d after spraying was 90.11% ; the damage rate of Chinese cabbage was only 0.21%, while the commodity rate reached 100% ; compared with chemical pesticide spraying, the commodity yield （177 262.5 kg/hm2 ） and the income after deducting spraying cost （48 858.5 yuan/hm2 ） were increased by 14.7% and 13.75%, respectively. [ Conclusion] Although biological pesticides are more expensive, they have long persistence and good control effect, resulting in green and safe Chinese cabbage with high commodity rate and yield, and higher eventual economic benefit after deducting spraying cost.

Study on Biological Habits and Control of Scirothrips dorsalis Hood on Mangoes

[Objective] This study aimed to explore the biological habits of Scirothrips dorsalis Hood and methods for controlling this pest. [Method] From 2009 to 2011, the biological habits of Scirothrips dorsalis Hood and the regularity of its occurrence on mangoes were investigated at the experimental base of the Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Cash Crops, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Shuanghongqiao Mango Orchard in Baoshan, Yunnan Province. In addition, a field trial on the effects of four medicaments on controlling this pest was also conducted. [Result] The result showed that Scirothrips dorsalis Hood completed 10-12 genera- tions per year in Baoshan area, and the peak period of its incidence was from February to April. The results of the pest control testing showed that at 0.05 level, there were significant differences of effect on pest controlling among the treatments I, II and IV, and the treatment III showed significant differences of controlling effect with the treatment IV, while no significant differences with either the treatment I or the treatment II; at 0.01 level, there was no significant difference among the treat- ments I, II and III, while all the three treatments showed significant differences with treatment IV. [Conclusion] This study revealed that the occurrence and the severity of Scirothrips dorsalis Hood on mangoes in Baoshan, Yunnan Province. In addition, pesticides with certain efficacy on controlling Scirothrips dorsalis Hood were screened, which provides more options for fruit growers to control this pest on mangoes.

Potential of Steinernema carpocapsae(Weiser) as a biological control agent against potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella(Zeller)(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

The entomopathogenic nematode,Steinernema carpocapsae,was evaluated for control of the potato tuber moth,Phthorimaea operculella,under laboratory conditions.We evaluated different concentrations of S.carpocapsae for control of 2 nd,3 rd,and 4 th instar P.operculella.The median lethal concentration(LC50)of S.carpocapsae infective juveniles(IJs)to 2 nd,3 rd and 4 th instar larvae of P.operculella was 200,363,181 IJs mL–1,respectively.With the extension of treatment time,the cumulative mortality increased for 2 nd,3 rd,and 4 th instar larvae and pupae of P.operculella.Fourth instars were the most susceptible for all observation periods.Therefore,our results suggest that S.carpocapsae could be an effective biological control agent for P.operculella.

Utilization of Fungi for the Biological Control of Insect Pests and Ganoderma Disease in the Indonesian Oil Palm Industry

Biological control is usually the first choice of control and prevention method for integrated pest management （IPM） strategies and has now been widely implemented by Indonesian oil palm plantations. Entomopathogenic fungus, i.e., Metarhizium anisopliae, Cordyceps militaris and Beauveria bassiana have been demonstrated to control renowned pests of oil palm. Metarhizium has been used to control Oryctes larvae and the mortality has ranged from 91.67% to 100% in laboratory and 7.4% to 88.75% in the field. Metarhizium has been applied in combination with a termite baiting system （TBS） to control termites in the field for preventive and curative action as well. In many oil palm plantations in Indonesia, Cordyceps has been used to reduce the field moth population ofSetothosea asigna. Application of Cordyceps within the oil palm circle was able to infect S. asigna pupae up to 80%. Meanwhile, Beauveria in an effervescent formulation was demonstrated to have better efficacy on Darna trima larvae. A significant finding on the biological control of basal stem rot disease （Ganoderma） was the isolation of Trichoderma sp. and Gliocladium sp.. The efficacy was conducted with promising result and techniques on the application of Triehoderma have been developed, i.e., hole-in-hole system, surgery and a mounding method. However, as the roots developed, Trichoderma was no longer able to protect the palm from Ganoderma. In spite of that, the use of Trichoderma still prolonged the life ofoil palms by up to 2-3 years. Another fungi belonging to vesicular arbuscular mychorrhiza （VAM） has been developed to control Ganoderma. The efficacy in the nursery showed promising results and the Ganoderma incidence remained low compared to the untreated control. Large scale field trials are ongoing. Challenges on the implementation of biological control in oil palm plantations are because of application and availability of biopesticides/natural enemies. Therefore, advances in research on the formulation of biological control agents are still needed.

A Mechanism for Biological Control-Tempo-Spatial Synchronization of Natural Enemy and Insect Pest Population Dynamics at the Peak by Increase of Biodiversity

To reveal the mechanism of control of the Woolly Apple Aphid （Eriosoma lanigerum Hausm, WAA） by increase of biodiversity in the apple orchard, a consecutive two-year field trials were conducted in Yurman province, China. The results showed that the peak of natural enemy density curve in the cover cropping orchard was well temporally synchronized with that of the WAA density on trees, but did not synchronize with that of WAA density on trees in clean orchard. In addition, the frequency of natural enemies and WAA within a same sample in cover cropping orchard was obviously higher than that in clean cultivated orchard during the peak of population curves, indicating that natural enemies spatially synchronized with aphids. The density of WAA for the whole growing season in cover cropping orchard was much less than that in clean orchard. Therefore, the temporal-spatial synchrony of natural enemy and aphid populations was proposed as one of the mechanisms for aphid control in cover cropped orchards.

Nonlinear incidence rate of a pest management SI model with biological and chemical control concern

A pest management SI model with impulsive releases of infective pests and spraying pesticides is proposed and investigated. We prove that all solutions of the model are uniformly ultimately bounded. We also obtain the sufficient conditions of globally asymptotic stability periodic solution of pest-extinction and permanence of the model. The approach of combining impulsive releasing infective pests with impulsive spraying pesticides provides reliable tactical basis for the practical pest management.

Investigation of Kiwifruit Bacterial Canker Disease(Pseudomonas syringae pv.Actinidiae Takikawa) in Guanzhong Area of Shanxi Province and Its Biological Control

[ Objective ] The paper was to grasp the incidence characteristic of kiwifruit bacterial canker disease （Pseudomonas syrirtgate pv. actinidiae Takikawa） in Guanzhong area of Shanxi province, and to screen the endophytic actinomycetes with control effect against kiwifruit bacterial canker. [ Method] The incidence characteristics of kiwifruit bacterial canker disease in 65 orchards of 13 villages in guanzhong area of Shanxi province （Yangling, Zhouzhi, Meixian） were investiga- ted and analyzed. The antagonistic strains against Pseudomonas syringae were simultaneously screened from 242 endophytic actinomycetes, and carried out field dis- ease control test. [ Result] The average incidence rate of kiwifruit bacterial canker disease in guan^ong area of Shanxi province was 7.95% ; the variety of kiwifruit had dose relationship with incidence rate. 76 strains bad inhibition activity agmnst P. syringae, while the inhibition zone diameters of fermentation broths of 35 strains against P. syr/ngae were greater than 20 nun. TIASA5 strain had inhibition activity against four target bacteria; gCLA4 strain not only had inhibition activity against four target bacteria, but also had strong inhibition activity against 10 species of plant pathogenic fungi. Field test showed that the fermentation broth of gCLA4 strain had obvious control effect against kiwifruit bacterial canker disease, and the relative control effect at 21 d could reach 66.7%. [ Conclusion] The an- tibacterial spectrum of fermentation broth of gCLA4 strain is broad, so gCLA4 strain has the potential to be developed into a broad-spectrum agricultural fungicide. Key words Kiwifruit bacterial canker disease; Endophytic actinomycetes; Biological control; Field test

Effects of Biological Pesticides on Prevention and Treatment of Virus Diseases in Greenhouse Tomato in Autumn

To alleviate the damage of tomato virus diseases, reduce chemical pesticide consumption and residue, and prevent environmental pollution, forecasting, randomized block design and statistical analysis were adopted to conduct field efficacy tests for Lentinan ＋ Gibberellin-heteroauxin-brassinolide （GHB） and Ningnanmycin ＋ GHB. The results showed that when the virus diseases in greenhouse tomato were serious, 0.5% Lentinan AS 3 000 ml ＋ GHB WP 600 g and 8% Ningnanmycin AS 900 ml ＋ GHB WP 600 g per hectare were applied 4 times with an interval of 7 days, and the control effects on the 10th, 17th, 26th and 35th day were above 88%, 87%, 78% and 67%, respectively. The difference in control effect of the two biological pesticides was insignificant, while their control effects were all significantly better than that of moroxydine hydrochloride （CK） ＋ GHB. The obtained results indicated that Lentinan ＋ GHB and Ningnanmycin ＋ GHB were the ideal biological pesticides, which could be used not only for controlling tomato virus diseases, but also for realizing modern, pollution-free, green and organic agricultural production.

Application of Biological Pesticides in Medicinal Plants

At present, the excessive application of traditional chemical pesticides, serious pesticide residue pollution and destruction of the ecological balance in China have become important factors affecting the quality and safety of medicinal material. Biological pesticides are rapidly developed due to their characteristics of high efficiency, low toxicity and residue. This study aimed to introduce the specific property of biological pesticides, review the classification of biological pesticides and their application in medicinal plants, analyze the problems in the production and utilization process of biological pesticides, and forecast the developmental prospect.

RNA interference in Colorado potato beetle(Leptinotarsa decemlineata): A potential strategy for pest control

Colorado potato beetle(CPB),Leptinotarsa decemlineata,is a notorious destructive pest that mainly feeds on the leaves of potato and several other solanaceous plants.CPB is widely recognized for its adaptation to a remarkable variety of host plants and diverse climates,and its high resistance to insecticides and Bacillus thuringiensis toxins.RNA interference(RNAi)is a sequence-specific,endogenous gene silencing mechanism evoked by small RNA molecules that is used as a robust tool for virus and pest control.RNAi has been extensively tested for CPB management by employing various target genes and delivery methods.This article reviews the screening of RNAi target genes,efficient RNAi delivery systems,and factors affecting RNAi efficiency in CPB,which may help understand the mechanisms of RNAi and its application in CPB control strategy.

The Main Biological Hazards in Animal Biosafety Level 2 Facilities and Strategies for Control

Concern about the biological hazards involved in microbiological research, especially research involving laboratory animals, has increased in recent years. Working in an animal biosafety level 2 facility （ABSL-2）, commonly used for research on infectious diseases, poses various biological hazards. Here, the regulations and standards related to laboratory biosafety in China are introduced, the potential biological hazards present in ABSL-2 facilities are analyzed, and a series of strategies to control the hazards are presented.

Dynamic models of pest propagation and pest control

This paper proposes a pest propagation model to investigate the evolution behaviours of pest aggregates. A pest aggregate grows by self-monomer birth, and it may fragment into two smaller ones. The kinetic evolution behaviours of pest aggregates are investigated by the rate equation approach based on the mean-field theory. For a system with a self-birth rate kernel I（k） = Ik and a fragmentation rate kernel L（i,j） = L, we find that the total number MoA（t） and the total mass of the pest aggregates MA （t） both increase exponentially with time if L ≠ 0. Furthermore, we introduce two catalysis-driven monomer death mechanisms for the former pest propagation model to study the evolution behaviours of pest aggregates under pesticide and natural enemy controlled pest propagation. In the pesticide controlled model with a catalyzed monomer death rate kernel J1 （k） ---- J1 k, it is found that only when I 〈 J1 B0 （B0 is the concentration of catalyst aggregates） can the pests be killed off. Otherwise, the pest aggregates can survive. In the model of pest control with a natural enemy, a pest aggregate loses one of its individuals and the number of natural enemies increases by one. For this system, we find that no matter how many natural enemies there are at the beginning, pests will be eliminated by them eventually.

A New Strategy of Insect Pest Control:Down-regulating Cotton Bollworm Gene Expression by Engineering Plant Double Stranded RNA

Cotton bollworm(Helicoverpa armigera) is an important agricultural pest that causes severe yield loss to crops,particularly to cotton.Transgenic Bt crops have been successful in

Empirical Analysis of Forest Pest Control Efficiency from 2003 to 2014 in China

Three indexes including forest pest occurrence area,control area and input fund of 31 provinces from 2003 to 2014 were selected from Forestry Statistical Yearbook,to establish dynamic interaction index evaluation system with clustering robust regression model and Stata 13. 0 software. Total forest pest control efficiency in China was determined according to the computing result of entropy method. Suggestions such as improving forest pest control efficiency,increasing service efficiency and input amount of forest pest control input funds were put forward. It will provide empirical basis for target management evaluation of forest pest control work and accountability system.