Biological Control: A tool for sustainable agriculture, a point of view of its benefits in Ecuador

Resumen

Agriculture is passing through a global crisis; productivity and sustainability are two challenges for farmers as they strive to produce more food, preserve the environment and maintain the health of living beings.Developed and developing countries need to adopt new productive systems to improve the quality of food, preserve the environment and ecosystems.Currently, the abuse and misuse of chemical products has caused a series of problems including contamination of soil and water and pest resistance to active ingredients.Climate change and other transformations that agriculture is going through, have generated over recent decades the emergence of an industry of biological inputs, which are environmentally friendly products with little risk to human health.These biological products have characteristics and modes of action that provide pest control with fewer risks than from the use of chemical pesticides.This review covers the importance, use and applications of biological products based on beneficial fungi in Latin America, highlighting the project "Biocontrol for Sustainable Farming Systems" carried out in Ecuador, funded by MFAT New Zealand, which has demonstrated the efficiency of microbial products in agriculture through the research results obtained during the project.In addition, aspects related to quality control of bioproducts and regulations for their registration are also mentioned.