41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology
and 9th International Conference on Bacillus thuringiensis

The market for products based on biological control agents (BcAs) has been increasing steadily over the past few years at a much faster rate than that of chemical plant protection products. This market will continue to increase in the future as a result of several factors: growth of the niche market of high value crops, withdrawal and/or restrictions in the use of chemical pesticides, ecotoxicological issues, restrictions concerning minimum detectable residue levels in the final produce, consumer awareness, and consequently increased adoption of IPM and sustainable farming strategies. Unfortunately, up to now, the registration process has been completed successfully for only a limited number of BcAs, and for an even lower number full commercial development has been achieved. Several factors, especially regulatory constraints, can negatively affect the successful development and commercialization of cost-effective BcA-based products. A detailed analysis of the different factors involved will be presented.