Insects play a significant role in agriculture. Insects are mainly responsible for pollination. Therefore, insects are the main source of food production. However, not all insect species are beneficial in agriculture. Some species cause harm to insects.
These species of insects and weeds play a major role in
reducing food production. In fact, 10 to 15 per cent of food production is
reduced due to insects and weeds. This is a huge loss when viewed from the
perspective of the growing population. Therefore, it is essential to
protect human food supplies by destroying the species that produce waste.
Today, we use appropriate chemicals and pesticides in
agriculture to control organisms that are harmful to production. When pesticides
are used to increase production in agriculture, they may also cause some
unwanted harm.
For this, it is best to follow the method of biological
control because when pesticides are sprayed, beneficial insects will also be
destroyed along with harmful insects. This can lead to a decrease in yield, so
biological control is the best way to control a specific type of pest.
If a natural enemy of a pest is artificially released in
large numbers in areas where the pest is present, the unwanted pest is quickly controlled.
This method is called biological control.
The cotton cushion scale, which attacks lemon plants and
reduces yields, is controlled by the insect rodolia cordinalis. Since the
introduced insect is an enemy of the unwanted insect, it preys on those
insects.
For the biological control method to be effective, the
introduced insect must be adapted to the climate and soil conditions, must not
attack the beneficial insect species already present in the area, and must not
consume the crop as food. Otherwise, this insect itself will consume a lot of
grain as food. Furthermore, only if the insects to be introduced are introduced
in large numbers can they act as a complete insecticide.
This biological control method is very cost-effective, but it
requires proper research to identify the natural enemy of an unwanted
insect species at the beginning. Many researchers have proven that diseases
that attack crops can be controlled by creating a fungus in the soil.
It has been found that some bacteria and fungi prevent
diseases that attack the roots. Collar rot disease is also found in coffee seed
farms. This disease is caused by a fungus called Rhizoctonia Solani.
Due to this, the early growth of the coffee plant is greatly
reduced. During the rainy season, this disease can sometimes cause 100% loss. A
fungus called Trichoderma hazianum is used for its biological control.
Botanical researchers have found that it is more effective than fungicides in
many ways.
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