Biocontrol is the use of natural mechanisms to limit the impact of pests on crops. This practice is increasingly adopted by both home gardeners and farmers… especially now that meaningful efforts are being made to phase out pesticides.
How to implement biocontrol in the backyard vegetable garden?
In a biocontrol approach, there is no one-size-fits-all miracle recipe that works in every situation. This is the very first thing anyone looking to use the technique must accept. The hardest step to take? Accept the risk.
That’s precisely because there is no guaranteed effectiveness, and thus no certainty of securing production, that biocontrol (like all natural-gardening techniques) still scares many gardeners and farmers. In this, we need brave pioneers; be one of them!
Start by observing your garden
The gardener must first be a top-notch observer of their environment. A garden or a vegetable plot is not the same as another; nature is diverse!
It’s from careful observations that it will be possible to find the biocontrol tools that work in their own space.
It’s also important to understand that biocontrol is primarily a prevention strategy. It’s not about waiting for a problem to appear and then trying to stop it, but about anticipating what challenges may arise.
If a pest invasion occurs, it is still possible to act, but damage is likely to be substantial.
In biocontrol, insects are allies
While some insects (and they aren’t as numerous as you might think) can be quite bothersome in the garden, the vast majority are harmless, even beneficial.
To help you in this biological fight, there are many highly effective beneficial insects that can help you rid your crops of the pests that eat your harvest.
The use of chemical mediators and microorganisms in biocontrol
By chemical mediators we mean the entire range of products designed to combat crop pests.
Pheromones, for example, are very effective at repelling very specific insects, notably through the technique of mating disruption: in a given area, making it seem as if only females are present, which prompts males to avoid the area since they naturally seek to avoid competition.
Among microorganisms, some viruses or bacteria are also used to limit outbreaks of pest insects in crops. These methods are particularly effective in regulating pest populations that multiply due to monoculture (large fields, orchards with a single fruit variety, etc.).
Natural substances readily available
There are many natural substances—whether plant-derived, mineral-derived, or animal-derived—that can be used to limit the impact of pests.
Certain ones are well known, such as the nettle tea or the elderberry tea, while others are less known, such as diatomaceous earth, for example.
Their use, however, is something to think through, because you are introducing into an environment a substance that wasn’t there before. Just because something is natural does not mean it should be used with reckless precision and excess!
Biocontrol is therefore a set of techniques and methods to be implemented in the garden, adapting them both to the varieties grown and to the terrain and local environment.
Not easy, but when you’ve found the solution to a problem, you gain a completely different kind of pride in having achieved it while respecting the environment and without risking the health of those who will eat the harvested fruits and vegetables!
