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.