Biological control and agricultural modernization: Towards resolution of some contradictions

Miguel Altieri, Peter Rosset and Clara Nicholls

Agriculture and Human Values, 1997, vol. 14, issue 3, 303-310

Abstract: An emergent contradiction in the contemporary development of biological control is that of the prevalence of the substitution of periodic releases of natural enemies for chemical insecticides and the dominance of biotechnologically developed transgenic crops. Input substitution leaves in place the monoculture nature of agroecosystems, which in itself is a key factor in encouraging pest problems. Biotechnology, now under corporate control, creates more dependency and can potentially lead to Bt resistance, thus excluding from the market a key biopesticide. Approaches for putting back biological control into the hands of farmers (from artesanal biotechnology for grassroots biopesticide production Cuban style to farmer-to-farmer IPM networks, etc.) have been developed as a way to create a farmer centered approach to biological control Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1997

Keywords: Biological control; Environmental policy; IPM programs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1023/A:1007499401616

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