Integrated Pest Management is a methodology that encourages everything from crop rotations to the use of beneficial insects and microorganisms to control the control of pests. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recognized this shift in momentum, and is now devoting an increasing amount of its resources to the promotion of alternative farming practices. In addition, the Federal EPA has developed a biopesticides program that offers fast track approvals for environmentally safe biopesticides. The USDA has recently created an Institute of Biological Control to promote the use of natural organisms in pest control. There are four methods of biological pest control.
Diseases are an important method of natural insect control.
Bacteria, viruses and fungi can all infect insects, mites, and spiders and control their populations. The best known example of this is the bacterium Bacillus thuringensis. Different subspecies of this bacterium contain a protein toxin, particular to that subspecies, which binds the gut membranes of a wide variety of insects. When the toxin binds the gut, it kills the insect. Unfortunately, the toxin made by some subspecies of B. thuringensis can no longer bind the gut membrane of their respective insect targets.