Advantages and disadvantages of microbial control of insects
Advantages
- Specificity to the target organisms or to a limited number of host species.
- Little or no direct impact upon parasitoids and invertebrate predators.
- Harmless to vertebrates and plants.
- No toxic residues.
- Little or no environmental pollutions.
- Little or no development of resistance.
- Little or low health risks.
- No secondary pest outbreaks.
- Compatibility with other biological control agents.
- Possibility of long term control.
- Ease of application.
- Adaptation to genetic modification through biotechnology.
Disadvantages
- Specificity only to target organisms.
- Strict timing of application for maximum effect.
- Long term of lethal infection (eg. Little or no, knock down effect).
- Inactivation by environmental factors.
- Expensive to produce, especially for obligate pathogens.
- Short shelf life for some entomopathogens.
- Comparatively costly in the initial time.