CONSEQUENCES OF APPLICATION OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL IN AGRICULTURAL PEST MANAGEMENT AND ITS EFFECTS ON NATIVE ECOSYSTEM

Abstract

From agricultural perspectives use of biocontrol in any ecosystem has been enthusiastically championed as the credible and effective strategies that increase food production for global demand, this is however half truth because information on its ecological impacts is not adequately covered. Thus, this work brings forth the environmental hazards of biological control on ecosystem. For this research, extensive literatures on biocontrol and agricultural yield, workshop and conference reports were diligently read. In addition, comprehensive literatures materials on impacts of biological control in native ecosystem were consulted. Biological pesticides are parasitic and invasive in nature this has lead to dominancy and distortion of ecosystem chain in some cases because of their possible spread and recorded attack on non-target ecosystem species. Furthermore, some biological controls are insects, virus, bacteria and plant. Biological control could be invasive and become threats to native wildlife. Also, there are incidences when biocontrol endangered some established plant and wild animals’ thus distorting ecosystem. In addition, biological controls with increase population compete with native species for environmental nutrients and resources for survival. A lot of ecological damages such as distortion of food web and nutrients cycles, parasitism and pathogenicity have been noticed where biological control was applied. For these reasons, the poten­tial benefits that will arise from genuine ecological concerns in the development and use of biological control cannot be overemphasized with involvement of diverse interest holders. Finally, series of biocontrol experimental tests should be carried out in different regions of the world in other to gather more diverse data and information on possible biocontrol activities in different parts of the world before ratification for use. The assumed success of biological control in agricultural yield would be nothing compared to ecological impeding catastrophes likely to occur in nearest future because of multiple distortion of ecosystem.