Is biological control an effective way of controlling pests?
‘Biological control’ means introducing a ‘control agent’ such as predators, or parasites, into the area where pest(s) are found. If the pests eat, for example, food which is being grown then it is often desired to reduce the numbers of pests, for economic reasons. Biological control is a process which normally takes a long time to set up but has its advantages in the long term. It is very cost effective (in the long run) but may need Biologists, or a small team of highly qualified people, to ‘set it up’. Also the situation needs careful monitoring just in case the desired results are not being achieved. In practice, to achieve these results means interfering with the local ecosystem. ‘Controlling pests’ means reducing their numbers and keeping them constant at a low level, which means there is very little harm to the crops. If it is necessary to eradicate the pest altogether then biological control very often has to be used with chemical control. Chemical control is adding a chemical a
