Pest Management
Cassava’s starchy roots are a staple for millions of Africans, but cassava mealybugs, accidentally brought to Africa in planting materials from South America, ravaged the continent’s crops in the 1970s and 1980s, decreasing yields by up to 80 percent. Scientists found a solution in natural pest management, implemented by grow- ing numbers of farmers worldwide by means of biopesticides and biological control agents, including natural materials such as plants, bacteria and fungi. Predatory and parasitic insects are a form of biological control. All these methods work to keep pest levels low enough to minimize crop losses without posing a major threat to the environment.
Demand for produce free of pesticide residues is driving the increase in biopesticides, which are inherently less harmful to humans and break down more quickly than typical agrochemicals. Some beneficial fungi even go beyond pest killing by liberating soil nutrients that promote plant growth