Keynotes

Robert Malek is a Pesticide Risk Reduction Expert with a doctorate in agricultural entomology and over 7 years of experience in advancing sustainable crop protection. He has contributed to the development and registration of novel biopesticides and has led projects across Europe, the USA, and more recently in Africa, Asia and South America. At CABI, Robert focuses on mitigating the human and environmental health risks associated with pesticide use, while supporting evidence-based improvements to regulatory frameworks and enhancing farmer access to safer alternatives. He contributes to global knowledge exchange and training initiatives, including the development of online resources on bioprotection and pesticide risk reduction and serves as a technical adviser to the CABI BioProtection Portal. His work bridges science, policy, and practice, fostering cross-sector collaboration and advancing sustainable pest management worldwide.

Global opportunities and challenges to the uptake of biopesticides: an evidence map

Robert Malek¹, Kris Wyckhuys², Neal Haddaway³, Melanie Bateman¹, Dirk Babendreier¹, Baogen Gu², Ivy Saunyama², Qingpo Yang², Lukas Wyrwal², Ulrich Kuhlmann¹, and Sini Savilaakso¹

¹CABI, Delémont, Switzerland, ²FAO, Rome, Italy, ³Juno Evidence Alliance, Bangor, UK
Corresponding author: Robert Malek. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:
Biopesticides are increasingly recognized as important components of sustainable crop protection. Despite their potential to support integrated pest management, enhance biodiversity conservation, and reduce reliance on highly hazardous pesticides, their global adoption remains limited. This evidence map aimed to identify barriers and facilitators influencing biopesticide uptake reported in academic and grey literature and to examine how these factors vary across biopesticide types, geographical regions, and stakeholder groups.

A systematic search of bibliographic databases and grey literature sources was conducted to identify relevant studies published between 2016 and 2025. Studies were screened and coded according to a biopesticide production and uptake pipeline designed to encompass all stages relevant to biopesticide uptake, from discovery to long-term use. Data were extracted on geographical focus, stakeholder groups, biopesticide types, and reported barriers and facilitators.

The analysis of 142 publications revealed substantial regional and thematic disparities in the evidence base. Microbial biopesticides were most frequently studied, followed by botanicals, macrobials, and semiochemicals. Key barriers to scaling biopesticide use included complex and costly regulatory processes, limited farmer education and extension services, and concerns regarding product shelf life and stability. Facilitators included favourable environmental and human health profiles, demonstrated efficacy, compatibility with IPM approaches, and socio-economic benefits. The findings highlight the need for integrated innovation systems, supportive regulatory environments, and strengthened knowledge exchange to accelerate the transition towards sustainable pest management and broader biopesticide adoption worldwide.

David Haviland is an extension entomologist associated with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and UC Statewide IPM Program. For nearly 25 years, he has worked to disseminate information on IPM to growers and pest control advisers of the more than 100 commodities grown in the southern San Joaquin Valley. His research has focused on permanent crops, where he has worked on monitoring programs, treatment thresholds, biological controls, chemical controls and mating disruption of key pests of almonds, pistachios, grapes, citrus, blueberries and cherries. His extension efforts, which have included more than 400 industry publications and more than 900 invited presentations, focus on the on-farm realities of implementing sustainable pest management practices. Due to the impacts of his program on adoption, David has received multiple awards for IPM, including from the University of California, Entomological Society of America, and the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists.

Lessons learned in California's effort to advance sustainable pest management in almonds

David Haviland¹, Jhalendra Rijal² and Houston Wilson³

¹Entomology and Pest Management Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension – Kern County, Bakersfield, California, USA; ²Integrated Pest Management Advisor, University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, Modesto, California, USA; ³Entomology Specialist, Department of Entomology, University of California – Riverside, Riverside, California, USA

Abstract:

The California almond industry has a rich history of investment in research that has developed integrated solutions to complex pest management issues across the ~450,000 hectares of production statewide. In the early 2000s, insect pests such as navel orangeworm, San Jose scale, peach twig borer, fire ants and stink bugs were managed primarily through the use of organophosphate insecticides. Over time, those practices were replaced with more sustainable solutions that include winter sanitation, mating disruption, selective baits, and the judicious use of reduced-risk insecticides that are compatible with conservation biological control. As a result, increases in natural enemy populations have changed the pest management landscape. San Jose scale and peach twig borer are now under excellent biological control, such that they are no longer considered significant pests. Similarly, trophic level shifts in natural enemies for spider mites now allow growers to make decisions regarding the need for miticide applications based on populations of natural enemies rather than pests. Pesticide use trends have shown that transitioning to sustainable pest management practices has led to precipitous drops in risks to fieldworkers, consumers, birds, natural enemies, bees, and the environment. However, challenges still exist, particularly concerning invasive species, secondary pests that have become primary pests, and environmental factors such as climate change. Just as the industry has done for more than two decades, its ability to maintain high levels of sustainability will require continued investment in basic and applied research that is transferred to and adopted by the California almond industry.

Saliou Niassy is the Coordinator of the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC). He previously worked as a Senior Scientist in the Technology Transfer Unit at icipe. He holds a PhD in Zoology (Entomology) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) under the ARPPIS-DAAD Programme. He was the first Coordinator of AfroMont and the Land Matrix Initiative at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, respectively, between 2011 and 2013 and 2015 and 2017. He has also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow on Thrips Bioecology at icipe under the AU-funded Grain Legume project between 2013–2015.

Saliou is a member of the African Association of Insect Scientists (AAIS), of which he served as Secretary between 2013–2017 and then as President between 2017–2022. He is the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Tropical Insect Science (IF: 1.3).

Microbial biopesticide development, its application strategies and integration into IPM in Africa

Saliou Niassy¹ & Sunday Ekesi²

¹African Union Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC), Yaoundé, Cameroon and ²ICEPE, Nairobi, Kenya
Corresponding author: Saliou Niassy. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:
Africa's crop protection transition increasingly depends on microbial biopesticides that can reduce reliance on synthetic pesticides while strengthening integrated pest management (IPM). Drawing on continental survey evidence and African R4D experience, this keynote reviews the development, deployment and scaling of microbial products against priority pests. Fungal biopesticides, particularly Metarhizium- and Beauveria-based products, were the most frequently reported category, complemented by Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus subtilis, baculoviruses and entomopathogenic nematodes. Several pathways illustrate how strain selection, formulation, field validation, registration and public-private commercialisation can generate target-specific products. However effective application requires matching products to pest biology, crop system and timing, and integrating them with monitoring, cultural control, biological control and farmer training. Wider adoption will depend on harmonised regulation, reliable supply chains, local production, extension support and sustainable market incentives.

Martin Hill is the Distinguished Professor of Entomology, Rhodes University, South Africa. His research focus is biological control of both weed and insect pests. A main research area has been the biological control of invasive aquatic plant species. He has implemented the outcomes of his research on the biological control of water weeds in many countries around the world. Much of this research is multidisciplinary and includes strong social and economic aspects. He has also worked towards more sustainable control of insect pests, mostly in the citrus industry through the development of parasitoids, entomopathogenic fungi and viruses into mycoinsecticides. Martin is the immediate past President of the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC), and in 2017 established the Centre for Biological Control at Rhodes University; he is Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa.

Policy, normative and institutional frameworks related to the monitoring, conservation and sustainable use of microbial and invertebrate biological control agents

Martin Hill

Centre for Biological Control, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:

Microbial and invertebrate biological control agents (BCAs), including biopesticides and biostimulants, are vital components of sustainable agriculture and integrated pest management (IPM). They contribute to food security, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and reduced reliance on synthetic pesticides. Evidence shows that biological control delivers exceptional economic returns, especially in classical programmes targeting invasive pests and weeds, with benefit–cost ratios often far exceeding those of chemical interventions. Conservation approaches also enhance ecosystem services and biodiversity, though uptake in many regions remains constrained by limited advisory capacity and farmer awareness. Augmentative biological control has expanded in high-value horticulture, driven by consumer demand for residue-free produce and restrictions on conventional pesticides. Key challenges include regulatory fragmentation, risk aversion, lack of harmonized standards, and declining investment in new BCAs. Addressing these requires coherent, science-based, and proportionate frameworks that distinguish clearly between natural, conservation and classical biological control, biopesticides, and biostimulants. Harmonization of international standards, mutual recognition of risk assessments, and improved access to information systems, particularly in the Global South, are essential to unlock the full potential of BCAs.