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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #386792
Research Project: Next-Generation Approaches for Monitoring and Management of Stored Product Insects

Location: Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research

Title: Prospects for use of biological control for the food industry in North America

Author
item HERVET, VINCENT A. - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item Morrison, William - Rob

Submitted to: Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/27/2021
Publication Date: 9/29/2021
Citation: Hervet, V.D., Morrison Iii, W.R. 2021. Prospects for use of biological control for the food industry in North America. Agronomy. 11:01969. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11101969.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11101969

Interpretive Summary: While biological control has been widely adopted after harvest for the protection of stored products in Europe over the last couple of decades, the use of this tactic in North America has lagged. We evaluate why biological control has been successfully adopted in Europe but not North America to determine barriers that can be overcome with realistic solutions in North America. Further, we consider past research conducted in the field of biological control for pests of stored products in North America, its challenges, and what we can learn from them to develop biological control as a viable option to problems of insect pests of stored products in North America. We find that biological control, including the use of wasps, is regularly used in processing centers and industrial bakeries in central Europe and has gained widespread stakeholder acceptance. While the US has a regulatory exemption for common biological control agents after harvest, Canada has no such exemption from tolerances, and limited supplies of biocontrol agents in North America as well as information on their deployment and ease of deployment prevent their widespread adop-tion by stakeholders. We discuss ways to overcome cultural and technological barriers and end with prospects for adoption of biological control after harvest in North America.

Technical Abstract: Fumigation is the main control technique used against insect pests associated with stored grain and grain products in North America and globally. Other techniques are also utilized effectively, such as the use extreme temperatures and the use of biological control agents, but are mainly restricted to organic products and to Europe, respectively. Here, we review the past research conducted in the field of biological control for pests of stored products in North America and in Europe, its past and present successes in Europe, its challenges, and what we can learn from them to develop biological control as a viable options to problems of insect pests of stored products in North America.