Instead of using conventional pesticides to kill pests, there are other ways to protect the health of plants. We can harness the power of our natural pollinators, which are bees! These bees can be recruited to help transport beneficial fungi to plants, so that there is less reliance on pesticides. This is known as bee vectoring.
The addition of fungi would enable the plant to be more resistant to a certain type of pest, just like how an antibiotic increases the human body’s resistance to a type of illness. One such fungi advantageous to plants is Clonostrachys rosea, a naturally occurring fungi which is especially good at combating plant diseases like mould growth on plant fruits. As of now, this bee vectoring technique is commercialised and has been practised on blueberry, strawberry, tomato, almonds and sunflower plants. Many other microbes are being tested to see if they can work well against various kind of pests.
To recruit the bees to carry the right fungus, one can place a box of inoculant-dosed powder right at the entrance of the commercially reared beehive. In order to exit, the bees have to pass through the box of power before leaving. When doing so, the bees will coincidentally dip their legs and bodies into the powder, ultimately delivering them straight to the plant (flower) during pollination.
Bee dipping legs and body in powder fungicide
These fungi works well in protecting the plant health, minimising the use of pesticides. Usually, spraying pesticides in traditional farming is over used and non-target specific, where excess pesticides lead to bioaccumulation and biomagnification when it enters the food chain. Comparing it with bee vectoring, the usage of chemical agents is less wasteful and has a potential in completely replacing pesticide use in the future, if results are positive.
References:
Evans Ogden, L., 2020. Sustainable Farming: Can We Use Less Pesticides For More Environmentally Friendly Agriculture. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-clean-farming-revolution/?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F> [Accessed 17 July 2020].