Development and utilization of bio-pesticides in Japan

The increasing concern for safe agricultural production paved the way to search for other alternatives to agricultural chemical for plant production. Although many consumers prefer vegetables and fruits without agricultural chemical residues, the pre- and post production loss is estimated at very high levels without chemical control. Hence, in Japan, chemical pesticides could only be registered after strict evaluation and their application is controlled by many laws. Intensive efforts to search for alternative control measure are necessary because of the recognized influence of agricultural chemicals on the environment and others. Thus, it is recommended to integrate various control techniques such as cultural, physical and biological controls to reduce the total amount of agricultural chemicals. Among the above enumerated control measures, biological control is the most promising technology. Antagonistic microbes to control disease caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses are commercially available upon official registration as pesticides. They are Agrobacterium radiobactor strain 84 to control crown gall disease, Pseudomonas florescence to control bacterial wilt, Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma lignorum, Talaromyces flavus to mention some.The efficacy of the product is based on the mode of action of antagonistic microbes like parasitism, competition, production of antibiotics and induction of resistance in plants. Biological herbicides using weed-pathogenic bacteria is also available to control weeds in golf course in Japan. Inoculation of attenuated virus shows strong control ability for several viruses in plants.Utilization and market of bio-pesticides in Japan is still very limited compared to agricultural chemical. Many farmers expressed that bio-pesticides are not easy to handle, more expensive, slow effect with narrow spectrum. This year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, Japan, introduced integrated pest management(IPM) guidelines to strengthen the understanding of farmers and consumers on IPM. The guidelines explained that biological control as one of the options but not as a single option for pest management. Also, it is emphasized that integration of various plant protection technologies and agents including bio-pesticides plays an important role for plant protection. Scientists should look for more effective microbes as bio-pesticides and further detail study on mechanism of their action. At the same time, scientists will provide accurate update information on bio-pesticides and present evidence for the consumers to recognize the merits of bio-pesticides