Biological Control: A Potential Tool for Pest Management under Changing Climatic Conditions

The impact on food availability is mostly influenced by changing climatic circumstances such as increased CO2 levels, shifting rainfall patterns, and temperature fluctuations. These elements primarily cause severe weather events such as floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires, all of which influence food availability. In recent years, unusually diverse abrupt weather conditions and catastrophic events have aided the quick introduction and reemergence of invasive plant pest species, as well as their increased pesticide resistance, posing a threat to food security. As pests and pathogens move into new areas, they can encounter new hosts and ecosystems, leading to novel interactions and potentially severe impacts on agriculture and natural ecosystems. To control them enormous amounts of pesticides are used by farmers. The alarming rise in pesticide usage will compound the problem by polluting land, air, and water, as well as causing the establishment of pesticide-resistant insect populations. As a result, a shift toward environmentally friendly and cost-effective practices is necessary, which should apply to both proactive and reactive solutions. Microbial biological control agents (MBCAs) are used on crops to prevent plant diseases by both direct and indirect processes such as antibiosis, parasitism, and reactive oxygen species formation, cell wall dissolving enzymes, competition, and induced resistance in crop plants. Understanding the nature of biocontrol agents allows for improved pest management in today’s changeable climatic circumstances. Furthermore, these procedures will aid in the development of appropriate management strategies to mitigate the detrimental effects of pests like insects and pathogens on food security and biodiversity.