Insect genetic resources-Innovations in utilisation

Abstract

Insects can be a problem or an opportunity. Though the proportion of useful and harmful insects is low within the class Insecta, it is now widely acknowledged that interactions in the insect community impact the density and diversity of economically important insects. Generally the emphasis is on economically important insects as they visibly and directly influence mankind, while the number of agriculturally important insects that need to be documented far outweighs the mere quantum of economically important insects. Insect biodiversity is instrumentally important not only for the production of food, but for other ecological services as well, including the recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate and suppression of undesirable organisms. In the United States alone, pollination by bees accounts for over US$9 billion of economic revenue and some estimates indicate that over ⅓ of the human diet can be traced directly or indirectly to bee pollination. There are two key gaps in understanding and utilizing the positive aspects of insect diversity: a general neglect of insects in biodiversity research and an overemphasis on their negative impacts in all other biological research areas. Promising species/strains of macrobials and microbials have been identified for several of the notorious pests and diseases infesting crops. Simple and novel farmer friendly technologies have been standardised by NBAIR for the production of these potential bio-agents. At this juncture, armed with these technologies, focus should be on popularising the concept of biological control among farmers and motivating them to adopt this eco-friendly bio-approach as an important component of IPM.