and release of invertebrates for insect control (67) or the augmentation of native beneficial organisms (which usually attract no commercial interest) are typically tasks for government agencies which promote techniques among farmers and growers. Some biological control authorities have questioned whether BCA should be developed too closely along a pesticide-like paradigm. Biological control encompasses much more than just pesticidal agents, given the whole range of natural enemies and antagonists in the agro-ecosystem (23). Especially at the farmers’ level, more training and information is needed on the practical use of the various facets of biocontrol, and in the broader context of agro-ecological engineering. Agricultural policies that promote biological control will provide new avenues for the private sector to develop and market BCA. Although demand for certain BCA is rising significantly, availability of good quality products is still very limited. There is a significant danger that continued supply of poor-quality products could severely hamper the implementation of biological control. In ASEAN, lack of private sector investment and technical knowledge for local production is one of the reasons. Once medium and long-term national and regional pest management policies open up access to new biocontrol markets, this situation can be expected to improve. This is an overview of the general role, safety and efficacy for each category of BCA, with special reference to the situation in ASEAN. For specific information on control agents and products, reference can be made to the ABC database (see Appendix I) and the BCPC Manual of Biocontrol Agents (12). To date, there are 720 registered products included in this database (October 2013): the most prominent of which is Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Also predominant are a large number of fermentation products that include avermectins (about 35% of products including abamectin, milbemectin and emamectin benzoate), other macrocyclic lactone insecticides such as spinosins and various fungicidal and bactericidal antibiotics (mostly validamycin, but also ningnanmycin, streptomycin, etc.). In addition, plant growth regulators are listed that include auxins, brassinolide, cytokinins, gibberellic acid, etc.; strictly speaking, these are not plant protection products. Some AMS regard such substances as BCA, while others list them under conventional pesticides; macrocyclic lactone insecticide products in particular are often covered by chemical pesticide legislation and have not been included in the 5th edition of the BCPC manual. It was agreed among regional experts to not categorise them as ‘typical’ BCA and avermectins were specifically excluded since they may exhibit synthetic pesticide-like broad-spectrum activity and pose certain environmental risks (e.g. relatively high aquatic toxicity). Thus, there remain 471 registered products (as of October 2013: see Table 1 below). The numbers demonstrate that the market for BCA has significantly expanded, compared with the situation at the start of the millennium (24). 17 2 BCA profiles
Implementing Biological Control Agents in the ASEAN Region
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