Role of Biological Control in Management of Invasive Exotic Arthropod Pests and Weeds in India
Rangaswamy Muniappan, Kesavan Subaharan, Krishnan Selvaraj, Muthusamy Sampathkumar, Satya Nand Sushil

TL;DR
Biological control has been used in India for over 200 years to manage invasive pests and weeds, reducing pesticide use and supporting sustainable agriculture.
Contribution
The paper provides a comprehensive review of the historical and current status of biological control in India for managing invasive species.
Findings
Biological control has achieved excellent, substantial, and partial control of 16, 9, and 4 invasive species, respectively.
The use of biological control has contributed to a decline in chemical pesticide use in India over the past 15 years.
Seventy-seven of 174 imported natural enemies have successfully established in the field.
Abstract
Invasive species can cause loss of biodiversity and agricultural productivity, adversely affecting human and environmental health. Biological control of exotic invasive insect pests and weeds has been practiced for more than two centuries in India. It has provided control in the categories of excellent (16), substantial (9), and partial (4) of exotic insect pests and weeds. Further, biological control in association with other components of integrated pest management has contributed to the decline in use of chemical pesticides in the past decade and a half in India, leading to sustainable development and environmental safety. Classical biological control of exotic invasive weeds first took place in India in 1795. Thus far, a total of 174 natural enemies have been imported into India, and out of these, 77 have established themselves in the field. Twelve exotic insect pests and four…
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
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Taxonomy
TopicsBiological Control of Invasive Species · Insect-Plant Interactions and Control · Insect behavior and control techniques
