A Comprehensive Review on Entomovectoring in Agroecosystem

Abstract

Protecting beneficial arthropods is essential, as they provide crucial services beyond pollination, including disease and insect pest management. The combination of several ecosystem services for agricultural sustainability requires the recognition that biodiversity is coupled with bio-complexity, productivity, resilience, and ecosystem functionality. Insects such as bumblebees, mason bees, and honey bees have long been employed professionally for pollination, likewise microbial biocontrol agents are frequently employed in pest management. A key aspect of pollination ecology is entomovectoring technology that utilizes managed bees to disseminate biocontrol agents to flowering crops. This can enhance crop yields by providing non-chemical protection against pests and diseases as well as enhancing pollination efficiency. This technology is based on bee management, manipulation of bee behaviour, components of cropping system, plant-pathogen-vector-antagonist system which can be a trend-breaking pest management system in agriculture and will give double benefit to agriculture i.e. crop pollination and crop protection acting together for increased crop yield and quality.