Biological pest control alternatives

Although pesticides continue to be the major approach to boll weevil control, problems related to their use have led to a search for alternative forms of pest control. These Include chemicals that modify behavior and/or development, biological agents, and genetic manipulation. 

Templeton, G. E. Heiny, D. In New Directions In Biological Control..Alternatives for Suppressing Agricultural Pests and Diseases Baker, R. Dunn, P., Eds. UCLA Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology New Series Vol.112 A. R. Llss New York 1989 pp. 279-286. 

Kelly, T. J. Masler, E. P. Menn, J. J. In Proceedings of the IntT. Symposium on Pesticides and Alternative Innovative Chemical and Biological Approaches to Pest Control Casida, J. Ed. Elsevier Amsterdam, 1990 pp 283-97. 

We need to research how to use effectively our existing pesticides, how to conserve them, and how to fit them into new strategies for pest control. In the past it was difficult to consider the use of pheromones, other alternative controls, or biological controls of pests because there was no funding incentive for development. 

Finally, while alternative and complementary methods for pest control offer benefits under certain circumstances, they do not offer a panacea, and will not, in all probability, lead to a utopian, pesticide-free agriculture system. The best means of achieving optimisation in pesticide use and/or minimisation in chemical applications is the adoption of pragmatic approach based on a sound understanding of the chemistry, physics, biology and engineering involved in effective pest control. 

Gutterson N, Howie W, SuslowT (1990) In Baker R, Dunn P (eds) New directions in biological control alternatives for suppressing agricdtural pests and diseases. Alan R. Liss, New York, p 749... 

Interesting results have been obtained in the synthesis of biologically active compounds such as insect pheromones. Conventional synthetic routes to these pheromones are often multistep sequences, which make many pheromones too expensive for widespread use [23]. Metathesis offers a shorter, alternative route to pheromone synthesis, generating these compounds in a few steps only. The use of insect sex pheromones is an environmentally friendly, effective, and selective method of pest control. Kiipper and Streck [24] synthesized insect sex pheromones by cross-metathesis reactions between linear olefins. In the presence of the catalyst Re207/Al203, 9-tricosene was synthesized by cross-metathesis of the readily available aUcenes 2-hexadecene and 9-octadecene (Eq. 8). 

Novel pest control technologies based on natural products or products derived from biological processes appear to provide promising alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides. However, new techniques continue to receive a detailed scrutiny from regulatory authorities because of the lack of experience associated with their use. The impossibility of absolute guarantees that there would be no adverse, unanticipated effects on non-target organisms and the environment places innovators and policy makers in a difficult... 

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