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Review
. 2020 Dec 4;8(12):1930.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8121930.

Combining Biocontrol Agents with Chemical Fungicides for Integrated Plant Fungal Disease Control

Lena Ons  1 , Dany Bylemans  2   3 , Karin Thevissen  1 , Bruno P A Cammue  1
Affiliations
Review

Combining Biocontrol Agents with Chemical Fungicides for Integrated Plant Fungal Disease Control

Lena Ons et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Feeding a rising population of currently 7.8 billion people globally requires efficient agriculture, which is preferably sustainable. Today, farmers are largely dependent on synthetic fungicides to avoid food losses caused by fungal diseases. However, the extensive use of these has resulted in the emergence of fungicide-resistant pathogens and concerns have been raised over the residual effects on the environment and human health. In this regard, biocontrol agents (BCAs) have been proposed as an alternative to standard fungicides but their disease management capacity is usually incomplete and heavily relies on uncontrollable environmental conditions. An integrated approach combining BCAs with fungicides, which is the focus of this review, is put forward as a way to reduce the fungicide doses to manage plant diseases and thereby their residue on harvested crops. In addition, such a strategy of combining antifungal treatments with different modes of action reduces the selection pressure on pathogens and thereby the chances of resistance development. However, to allow its large-scale implementation, further knowledge is needed, comprising timing, number and interval of repeated BCA applications and their compatibility with fungicides. The compatibility of BCAs with fungicides might differ when applied in a mixture or when used in alternation.

Keywords: antagonism; biocontrol; fungicide combinations; induced resistance; integrated pest management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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