Biological control Pesticides News 93 Autumn 2011

Biological control in
Brazil
Brazil's megabiodiversity and long history in the use of biocontrol mean
that a wide variety of arthropod and microbial natural enemies are
available for use in pest and disease management. Vanda Bueno
describes successes in different cropping systems, benefits obtained in
terms of pesticide reduction and cost savings, and explores some of the
factors which help or hinder wider uptake of biocontrol by Brazilian
farmers. Trichogramma parasitoid wasps are important
Before the large-scale application of chem- ural enemies in and around farmers’ fields. natural enemies
ical pesticides, biological control was one Augmentative biological control has a on pastures, sugarcane, wheat, tomato and
method of pest management embedded in a number of important advantages over on citrus orchards5. By 2003, augmentative
systems approach of pest prevention and chemical control including: no phytotoxic biological control was being used on about
reduction. Biological control involves the effects on young plants, no early abortion 1.32 million hectares6. Although no current
use of ‘natural enemies’: beneficial insects occurs on fruit and flowers; the release of (and more accurate) data is available, there
and other invertebrates which prey on or natural enemies takes less time and can be has been a considerable increase in the
parasitise insect pests; certain types of preferable to applying insecticides; several application of biological control over the
fungi, bacteria or other microorganisms key pests can be controlled only by natural past eight years with the bulk of the expan-
which feed on insect pests or on crop dis- enemies; there is no waiting period after the sion taking place in the south east of the
ease-causing agents; and vertebrate preda- release of natural enemies which allows a country. In this region, biological control
tors. continued harvest with no damage to the programmes are being conducted both in
Augmentative biological control is the workers’ health involved in the process, and small and large areas in various crops in the
mass and regular release of beneficial no problems with waste and to the environ- field and in greenhouses. Meanwhile, ento-
arthropods or microorganisms in crops in ment2. mopathogenic agents, especially the fungal
order to boost naturally occurring levels of Brazil is one of a few countries world- biopesticide Metarhizium anisopliae are
these natural enemies. It is commercially wide that has been classed as having widely used in the north east and mid west
applied to 0.16 million km2 worldwide. ‘megadiversity’. Brazil has a long history of regions.
This equates to just 0.4% of the cultivated biological control and between 1921 and There are about 21 companies produc-
land with a cost:benefit of 1:2-5 in various 1944, a series of programmes introduced ing arthropod natural enemies, 19 compa-
cropping systems around the world1. natural enemies to target certain pests3. nies producing fungi and viruses and 13
Farmers are increasingly adopting augmen- Biological control was further boosted in companies producing microbial antago-
tative biological control as a response to the the 1970s with the creation of departments nists, which can outcompete undesirable
growing resistance of insect and mite pests of entomology and biological control at microorganisms such as common disease-
to insecticides and acaricides. universities and research institutes4. causing fungi. The commercialised arthro-
Biological control by conservation is Between 1990 and 2000, some 24 pods which feed on insect pests in Brazil
also on the rise. This involves farm man- species of natural enemies were introduced are shown in Table 1.
agement actions that protect and stimulate across Brazil. These parasitoids, predatory Brazil has an area of around nine mil-
the performance of naturally occurring nat- insects and mites were used for pest control lion ha cultivated with sugar cane. The most
important commercial natural enemy
Table 1. Commercialised arthropods controlling insect pests in Brazil against the sugarcane borer Diatraea sac-
charalis is the wasp Cotesia flavipes which
Natural Enemies Target (pests) parasitises borer larvae. This large biologi-
cal control programme involves the annual
Cotesia flavipes Diatraea saccharalis release of the larval parasitoid to control the
Trichogramma galloi Diatraea saccharalis sugarcane borer in an area of about three
million ha. The wasp parasitoid is released
Trichogramma atopovirilia Spodoptera frugiperda at a rate of 6000 parasitoids/ha. Brazil has
Trichogramma pretiosum Tuta absoluta, Pseudoplusia includens, Plutella several private companies producing C.
xylostella flavipes and laboratories operating in sugar
and alcohol production plants; the most
Neoseiulus californicus Panonychus ulmi, Tetranychus urticae, prominent one is located in Sao Paulo State,
Polyphagotarsonemus latus which produces about three million of par-
asitoid C. flavipes per year. Data from the
Phytoseiulus macropilis Tetranychus urticae
Sugarcane Technology Center
Phytoseiulus longipes Tetranychus urticae, Tetranychus evansi (Coopersucar) located in Piracicaba-SP
shows significant success in controlling
Stratiolaelaps scimitus Bradysia spp., Collembola, soil mites, thrips (pupae) sugarcane borer using C. flavipes: from
Podisus nigrispinus Forest defoliators 1980 to 2005 approximately 16.9 billion C.
flavipes adults were released on 3.17 mil-
Orius insidiosus Thrips lion ha at an average cost of US $ 4.2 per
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Armored scales hectare avoiding the use of 951,000 litres of
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 Biological control Pesticides News 93 Autumn 2011

Table 2. Results from biological control of sugarcane borer using the of biological control was extended to all
cultivated area with soybean (11 million of
larval parasitoid Cotesia flavipes from 1980 to 2005 ha), the value would exceed R$ 50 million
● reduction of infestation level of D. saccharalis from 11% to 2.6%; per year (1 US$ = 1.77 R$).
● release 16.90 billion of Cotesia flavipes adults; The total area under protected cultiva-
● release on 3.17 million of hectares; tion (greenhouses and polytunnels) in
● save: US$ 57 million or 951,000 liters of insecticides; Brazil is about 30,000 ha and most of this
● costs of biological control: US$ 12.1 million; area is used for the production of ornamen-
● average costs per ha of biological control: US$ 4.2 tals. The biological control of pests in
Source: Sugarcane Technology Center, Brazil. greenhouses is being conducted mainly in
the regions of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais
insecticides (Table 2). caudata were released in the citrus areas of States, on ornamentals and strawberry
A second important natural enemy that Sao Paulo State. In 2000 around 18 million crops.
is commercialised and used as a biological D. longicaudata pupae were distributed all Efforts are underway to promote the use
control agent in several crops is the egg par- over Brazil, and a further four million were of biological control programmes for
asitoid Trichogramma spp., with a produc- sent to French Guyana. From 2003 to 2004 greenhouse crops. Currently, the predatory
tion of 15 to 20 billion Trichogramma per about 20 million were released in the mite Neoseiulus californicus is used on a
year. This parasitoid is released in an area Amapa State (Amazonas region) and one small scale to control the spider mite
of approximately 500,000 ha. The main million in Parana State (South region). Tetranychus urticae in strawberry, rose,
species that are released as biological con- From 1995 to 2004 a total of around 206 gerbera daisy and chrysanthemum crops, as
trol agents are T. galloi (against sugar cane million D. longicaudata pupae were pro- well as in peach and apple orchards. The
borer D. saccharalis eggs in approximately duced to control the fruit flies Anastrepha predatory mite Stratiolaelaps scimitus is
400,000 ha of sugarcane), T. pretiosum and Batrocera carambolae. This programme used to control fungus gnat larvae Bradysia
(against Tuta absoluta in tomato crops and was conducted by governmental research matogrossensis in citrus seedling produc-
Plutella xylostella in crucifers plants in institutions. tion and in nurseries on several ornamental
approximately 100 ha) and T. atopovirilia Fungal control agents are also being plants, such as azalea, anthurium and in
(controlling Spodoptera frugiperda in produced particularly in the sugar and alco- mushroom production. In addition, the
maize in > 50,000 ha) (Table 1). hol production sector. Brazil has a major predatory bug Orius insidiosus is used on a
Defoliator caterpillars in Eucalyptus bioethanol industry. Private companies are very small scale against thrips in chrysan-
forest areas are controlled through the producing the fungal biopesticide themum, potted gerbera, roses, and straw-
small scale use (approximately 95 ha) of Metarhizium anisopliae, to act against spit- berries7.
predatory stink bugs, primarily the species tlebugs like the leafhopper Mahanarva pos- In general biological control in Brazil
Podisus nigrispinus and Brontocoris ticata and the froghopper Mahanarva fim- has been used by farmers with large planta-
tabidus. Forest companies with a private briolata that are found in around one tions, but it is also used by small and medi-
laboratory located in Minas Gerais state are million hectares of sugar cane. Other fungal um scale family farmers. In some cases,
mass rearing around 20,000 predatory bugs biopesticides used are Beauveria bassiana these small and medium scale farmers have
a month and releasing on average 2,000 and Lecanicillium lecani against pests on been working together in co-operatives and
predators/ha. In Minas Gerais state from several crops. The commercialised biopes- through these co-operatives are starting to
1989-2005 approximately 3,076,683 preda- ticides based on microorganisms in Brazil mass rear natural enemies and distribute
tory adult bugs were released. are showed in Table 3. them to the farmers who are members of the
Even small organisations are develop- The use of the virus B. anticarsiae in co-operative. The mass rearing of the
ing biocontrol expertise. In Parana state a Brazil against the soybean caterpillar predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus
small cooperative produces the egg para- Anticarsia gemmatalis increased from 1983 against the red mite Panomychus ulmi is an
sitoid Trissolcus basalis to control to 2004, reaching an area of two million ha example of this cooperation between apple
stinkbugs, such as Nezara viridula, which of soybean; by 2011 however the area in farmers in Southern region in Brazil. They
are a problem pest in soybean crops in the use had decreased to 300,000 ha. This drop have built facilities for the mass rearing of
south of the country. in the use of biological control is related to the predatory mite in order to implement
The citrus industry has employed the the increase in the area cultivated with soy- augmentative biological control of the
parasitoid Ageniaspis citricola to control bean and also the lobbying of the chemical apple red mite. The biological control was
the citrus leafminer Phyllocnistis citrella. industry in Brazil. The data from the year started in an area of 600 ha of apple
From 1998 to 2004 approximately one mil- 1999 shows that the virus was used in about orchards in 2001/2002 and increased to
lion wasps were released in citrus orchards 10% of the cultivated soybean area in 7,200 ha in 2008. The biological control of
in the areas of the Sao Paulo state and as a Brazil, guaranteeing an economy superior the red mite showed a saving of US$ 85 per
result the P. citrella infestation decreased to R$ 5 million per year. However if the use hectare when compared to the conventional
from 0.70% in 1999 to 0.13%.
The predatory ladybird beetle Table 3. Commercialised entomopathogenic organisms in Brazil
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri is also used on
a small scale in citrus orchards against the Fungi Targets Crops
mealybug pest Planococcus citri. This
Metarhizium anisopliae spittlebugs Sugarcane, pasture grass
predator and its larvae have an average con-
sumption of 30 mealybugs a day. The Beauveria bassiana Banana weevil, T. urticae, Banana, papaya, rubber-tree
release rate is 5-25 adult ladybirds per rubber-tree lace bug
mealybug infestation and focused in 1-5
plants in each plot (around one ha), as this Sporothrix insectorum Rubber-tree lace bug Rubber-tree
predator is more effective at high prey den-
sities. Virus Targets Crops
The parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longi- Baculovirus anticarsiae Soybean caterpillar Soybean
caudadata, that attacks a range of fruit flies
such as Anastrepha spp. and Ceratitis capi- Bacteria Targets Crops
tata, was introduced in Brazil for the bio-
logical control of these pests. From 2001 to Bacillus thuringiensis Lepidoptera, Diptera Several crops and public health
2004 about 12 million pupae of D. longi- uses
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 Biological control Pesticides News 93 Autumn 2011

use of chemical control. The reduction of Pecuaria e Abastecimento – MARA) with many regulations concerning the collection
acaricides use for control of the red mite provisions on General Guidelines and and application of biological control agents
was around 97%. Technical Regulations for Integrated Fruit delay or even prohibit their use. Recent
Biological control is also increasingly (FIP) and Ornamentals production, in developments however may lead to a
being used to deal with plant diseases in order to allow the production of quality promising future for augmentative biologi-
Brazil. Different species of the antagonistic fruit crops with the minimum of environ- cal control. In addition to the ever-growing
fungi Trichoderma, are being used against mental contamination. number of pests that are becoming resistant
the disease-causing microorganisms includ- As outlined above, biological control of to pesticides (resulting in a need for alter-
ing Fusarium, Pythium, Rhizoctonia, pests and disease is widespread in Brazil, native control methods), the requirements
Macrophomina, Sclerotinia, Sclerotium, although application is still limited consid- of residue free food by supermarkets and
Botrytis, and Crinipellis permiciosa in ering the area under crop production. In the prioritisation of the use of IPM by gov-
bean, soybean, cotton, tobacco, strawberry, many cases, produce are destined for the ernmental institutions like the European
tomato, onion, garlic, ornamentals and local market and are not subject to any con- Union, along with the termination of pesti-
cacao crops over about 500,000 hectares. trols regarding pesticide residues; the situa- cides subsidies, will all improve the condi-
The fungal biopesticide T. asperellum tar- tion of the export market however is quite tions for biological control. After 60 years
gets soilborne pathogens Sclerotinia, different. of chemical control, we are entering the
Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Macrophomina There are several stimuli that are push- ecology-based pest management era8.
in soybean, bean, and cotton crops in ing growers to use fewer pesticides and The most realistic possibilities for
approximately 25,000 ha. This fungal adopt more sustainable methods to protect growth of a biological control market in
biopesticide is used on seed and soil treat- plants, and biological control is becoming a Brazil are in controlling pests on sugarcane
ments and can be sprayed by tractor, air- reality with great promise for all involved in crops, as still there are 6 million ha avail-
plane and central pivot. The cost of biolog- agriculture and food production. able for biological control and it involves a
ical control is about US$ 30 dollars/ha with Research in Brazil has concentrated on very simple system for mass rearing and
the use of Trichoderma while the cost of the use of native natural enemies, or on nat- commercialisation. The other major oppor-
fungicides is about US$ 75 dollars/ha. The ural enemies that were introduced to Brazil tunity is in soybean crops, as there are mil-
bacterial biopesticides Bacillus subtilis and a long time ago. This stems from concerns lions of hectares and it also involves a sim-
B. lechiniformis are used against the nema- over the environmental risks of imported ple system and programme that has been
todes Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica, natural enemies and also because native or used. Maize, cotton, orchard and green-
Pratylenchus brachyurus and P. coffeae in naturalised natural enemies are well adapt- house crops are more complicated systems
potato and carrots crops. In the year 2008 ed to the environmental conditions of but are still great possibilities for the use of
more than 12,000 kg of Bacillus spp. Brazil. The use of augmentative biological biological control.
(2x1010) was commercialized for nema- control is increasing in regions throughout Despite its problems, augmentative bio-
tode control in potato and carrot crops, and Brazil, and it is likely that use will continue logical control plays an effective role in
was applied by irrigation and seed treat- to grow in the future, both in Brazil and programmes of IPM worldwide and there is
ment (5 to 10 kg/ha) a cost of US$ 160- across the world. no doubt that Brazil will play a great role in
300/ha. There are several incentives for the use increasing the area of cropland under bio-
and implementation of new biological con- logical control, both in greenhouse and
The future of biological control trol programmes: field conditions.
● Brazil has enormous biodiversity, and
in Brazil many natural enemies (beneficial insects References
In 1998, Brazil imported US$ 1.2 billion in and mites) occur and have proven to be 1. Van Lenteren, J. C. 2009. IPM in greenhouse
pesticides, and from 1984 to 1998 there was good natural enemies for biological control, vegetables and ornamentals. In: Radcliffe, E. B.,
an increase of 700% in the use of active or are available to be evaluated and used as Hutchison, W. D. and Cancelado, R. E. (eds.),
ingredients. In 2009, Brazil ranked as num- Integrated Pest Management. Cambridge University
biological control agents. This may mean it Press.
ber one in the world for use of pesticides, is possible to control the majority of pests 2. Van Lenteren, J. C. 2012. The state of
using 673.9 million tons of the formulated with native natural enemies commercial augmentative biological control: plenty
product at a value of US$ 7.125 billion. The ● high interest by the farmers, because of of natural enemies, but a frustrating lack of uptake.
crops with the highest pesticide use in the development of resistance of pests to Biocontrol (DOI 10.1007/s10526-011-9395-1)
descending order are: tomato, potato, cit- pesticides and demands from the export 3. Gomes, J. 1962. Histórico do controle biológico
rus, cotton and coffee crops. Tomatoes, market for reduced pesticide use. no Brasil. Boletim do Instituto de Ecologia e
receive on average 52.5 kg of active ingre- However, additional measures are need- Experimentação Agricolas 21: 89-97.
dient/ha. ed to increase the use of biological control 4. Van Lenteren, J. C. & V. H. P. Bueno. 2003.
Several pests are present both in green- Augmentative biological control of arthropods in
in Brazil: critical analyses of possibilities Latin America. BioControl 48: 123-139.
houses and in fields and they are still large- for biological control (addressing the lack 5. Parra, J. R. P. & Consoli, F. L. 2009. Criação
ly controlled by chemicals. However, this of commercial availability of natural ene- massal e controle de qualidade de parasitóides de
situation is changing and there are several mies, and lack of biological control tech- ovos. p. 170-197. In: Bueno, V. H. P. (Ed.),
stimuli for the adoption of biological con- nology transfer), a more critical govern- Controle biológico de pragas: produção massal e
trol strategies as an IPM component, not ment approach and a more professional controle de qualidade. Editora UFLA, Lavras, 429p.
only for export markets, but also as a main- approach by industry. There are enormous 6. Op cit 5.
stream sustainable plant protection method possibilities for biological control, but they 7. Bueno, VHP. & Poletti, M. 2009. Progress with
in greenhouses. According to Celli, the use are seriously frustrated by lobbying from biological control and IPM strategies in protected
of IPM can provide new commercial oppor- cultivation in Brazil. IOBC/WPRS Bulletin 49: 31-
the chemical pesticides industry and a total 36.
tunities for growers as a result of ‘green lack of governmental support. With Brazil’s 8. Op cit 3.
labels’ that provide certification for envi- high ranking for pesticide use across the
ronmentally-safe production techniques world, it is necessary that steps are taken to VHP Bueno, Laboratory of Biological
and lack of pesticide residues on fruit. In change this. Control, Department of Entomology,
order to minimise the effect of pesticides on The pesticide industry considers biolog- Federal University of Lavras, P.O. Box 30
fruit and ornamental production and to ical control as cumbersome and of restrict- 37, 37200-000 Lavras/MG, email vhp-
ensure production sustainability, two guide- ed use, most farmers have become reliant bueno@den.ufla.br
lines were published for the Brazilian on pesticides during the past 60 years, gov-
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and ernmental institutions do not enforce or
Food Supply (Ministério da Agricultura, stimulate non-chemical pest control and
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