In the August, 2008 print issue of GrowerTalks magazine there was an article titled the “Pros and Cons of Biocontrol,” by Mark Berner, head grower for the Apopka, Florida facility of Deroose Plants. It was a good article and one we were encouraged to see. It was positive, open, and forthright, all based on the writer’s experiences. It was also a balanced article, equal time given to both the pros and the cons. But based on our years of experience, some flags were raised when we read it, and realized that things could have been different regarding this balance, not so much that the grower had done things differently — it’s a fairly accurate assertion for a first season — but mostly that the cons will likely not be cons when viewed differently and over time. In order to understand our belief of this, let’s break down the article and examine the parts.
The Opening
The opening offered details how they got started, apparently having a spider mite problem last year, making them wary this year, combined with a difficult crop to treat chemically, made them “desperate” for a solution. Since this year’s pest outlook wasn’t going to be any better, they decided to give biocontrols a try.
Our Take
As we’ve said many times, desperation is absolutely the wrong reason to try biocontrols. In this case, however, we’d like to assume that the program was started in a clean greenhouse without a significant infestation already. That part wasn’t clear in the article, but it alluded to that. That being the case, that’s a good thing. The desperation we warn about is the mid-season and the grower’s in trouble variety.
The Pros
The author, based on the experiences of the season, outlined the pros of using biocontrols. He offered the following (paraphrased):
- Resistance Management
- Chemicals lose their effectiveness, biocontrols don’t. Use of biocontrols can eliminate this ongoing problem as pests won’t develop a resistance to biocontrols [only adaptation can save them]. Moreover, using biocontrols allows chemical resistance to wane, eventually making those same chemicals much more effective if and when they are needed.
- Marketing Advantage
- This is the year of all things green it seems. Thus, using green methods for pest control is bound to offer marketing advantages if a grower decides to promote the fact.
- Healthier Plants, Cleaner Environment
- Plants look and grow better by reducing the risk of phytotoxicity. Moreover, other biocontrols can volunteer — the grower noted two beneficial newcomers in the greenhouse because they allowed them in, simply by not spraying and not making the structure inhabitable.
- Worker Safety
- No chemicals means no danger and no reentry intervals (REI) — barring unprotected growers from accessing the sprayed area for a stated number of hours — to deal with or worry about. Easier scheduling resulted.
- Eventually, We’ll Have To
- Someday green methods will be necessary and that everyone will be doing it. And maybe the not-so-green methods will become defunct or illegal.
Our Take
The grower is right on all points. In other words we found no flaws in the pros. We agree with them, though we do normally stress that a grower should wait a season or two so as to stabilize the program and ensure success, before taking the leap and going public with it — marketing an unfamiliar practice, one that may or may not have stability for that situation is either very foolish or very brave.
The Cons
Now let’s take a look at the cons of biocontrol as noted by Mr. Berner in the same article (also paraphrased).
- Cost
- The author compares side-by-side the cost of using biocontrols and proposed that they are twice that of chemicals, but he did go on to state that rearing your own via banker plants and whatnot can eventually reduce this overhead.
- Increased Scouting
- The author stated this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but more scouting was needed to stay on top of the situation due to the precarious balance between the predators/parasites and their respective prey/hosts.
- Increased Management
- Banker plant rotation and scouting led the author to write that there was more to managing a biocontrol program than there was to running a more conventional spray regimen. He stated that this was, in part, tied directly to the increased scouting.
- Long Learning Curve
- The author has been using predatory mites (their biocontrol choice) for six month and feels the whole thing is a work-in-progress. The grower is going slowly and being methodical. He mentioned he wasn’t bothered by this figuring starting small and going slowly was the key.
Mr. Berner stated there was more to it than what he covered in the article but that he did capture the flavor, offering the main points. He’s planning on another installment at some point. Perhaps some of what we will cover next will be validated, but that will take time.
Out Take
We agreed with the pros, but we have more to say about the cons so we will address them one-by-one. It’s not that we disagree with the author, and he may very be right for his situation if it is somehow unique, but based on our experience, the cons may not be as relevant as the article may suggest, at least not after more time is invested in the green methods.
- Cost
- We feel this is off the mark, at least in the long run. Better scouting, better management, and more experience will drive costs down. We agree that biocontrol is more expensive initially because we err on the side of caution, make mistakes, don’t scout well enough, and tend to botch our timing. If this con was titled first year costs we’d agree with it more. We don’t feel the primary way to reduce costs is to rear your own or rely on banker plantings. It can surely help and it’s a good practice, but the primary cost savings is to be had through refinement.
- Increased Scouting
- We disagree with this for the same reason we have for years: Growers should be scouting just as hard when they’re using chemicals. Using chemicals can take far less brain power, but not if it’s done right. If done right the level of scouting should be the same, once a week, on a schedule, and on time — a dedicated regimen that is analytical by nature.
- Increased Management
- We think a different management strategy goes into effect, but it doesn’t need to be increased. Changes such as contacting your bug supplier on time versus pulling chemicals out of the locker is the biggest change a grower should deal with. But once a firm understanding is attained and a pattern established, there should be no increases. We can, however, agree that for the first year or two the author’s statement is accurate. It’s not management so much, though, but rather the learning curve. But this would be true of any new practice or protocol.
- Long Learning Curve
- We agree. We figure it takes about five years to become a green methods master. Not to say there won’t be a few curves thrown thereafter, but generally five years is the magic number. That said, it does get easier (and cheaper and less time-consuming) after just two years. We base this on the feedback of thousands of growers, hundreds of which have reached that five year bliss. From these folks we hear that biocontrol is the same or actually less in terms of cost, scouting, and management.
In Closing
Our congratulations to Mr. Berner and Deroose Plants for surviving their first foray into biocontrol. And we’d also like to say thanks to Mr. Berner for sharing his experiences. But we also want to let you know, dear reader, that based on our experiences, it usually gets better faster and more easily than what the author is estimating. Thus, we felt it necessary to provide our views as well. The biggest benefits and least painful transition come to those who apply themselves — just like anything in life, right? It’s apparent Mr. Berner is the type of grower that is doing just that. We don’t know him, per se, but we’re optimistic that he will probably succeed at the green methods, to the benefit of all.
We’d also like to take a moment to congratulate GrowerTalks magazine for their new look and layout — we really like it.
John Rigby responds:
Posted: October 13th, 2008 at 1:59 pm →
That’s great, I never thought about the Pros and Cons of Biocontrol before. Thank for sharing the great idea.