Editorial

The present-day consumers are well aware of the ill-effects of chemical pesticides and are more health conscious than ever before. Understandably, biological control — a system of sustainably managing pests through the intelligent use of natural enemies of the targets — is on a firm footing in this era of organic farming. Classical biological control has been successfully used around the world to control introduced pests or invasive alien species in the last many decades. Similarly, augmentative biological control is also a popular approach in situations where frequent releases of natural enemies are required to obtain desirable results in terms of pest suppression. Lately, inundative use of biocontrol agents has gained traction. Commercial biocontrol products are sought after by growers who intend to use them in similar ways as they would use chemical pesticides. Predatory insects, parasitoids, predatory mites, entomopathogens, plant-disease antagonists and entomopathogenic nematodes are now sold in many countries and are in great demand