Critical issues in pest management for a future with sustainable biofuel cropping

A future in which biofuel crops form a significant component of landscapes may bring new challenges in pest management. To ensure triple bottom line outcomes (economic, environmental and social) from biofuel crops it is critical that pest problems, similar to most food and fibre crops, are anticipated and are managed through well researched and sustainable pest management systems which protect the wider environment. Integrated pest management (IPM) relies on a suite of alternative biological, cultural and pesticidal approaches which maintain pest damage below economic thresholds. Beneficial insects, host plant resistance and so-called ‘soft’ pesticides, which are selective for key pests and have little impact on beneficial species, are all valuable components of IPM which should be considered in the deployment of biofuel crops. The reality is that the economics of biofuels will have a major influence on the level of sophistication that might be possible with pest management in these crops. Given that they may be cultivated in landscapes where cropping has not previously been the norm—so-called marginal lands—it is critical that pests are not dealt with through reactive applications of damaging broad spectrum pesticides. GM crops expressing insecticidal traits also provide a foundation for an IPM approach and GM traits might be a viable consideration for some biofuel crops, particularly as many of the regulatory sensitivities which attach to GM food crops will be reduced with non-food applications of biofuel crops. However there may then be significant potential for GM biofuel crops to disrupt resistance management strategies for GM food and fibre crops—another tradeoff to be anticipated and managed. Integrating the deployment of biofuel crops in ways in which minimise disruption of existing food and fibre systems will be a real challenge.