Biocontrol innovations to combat pests and diseases in key EU crops

January 2025

Biocontrol uses substances, technologies or mechanisms derived from nature to control insect pests, diseases and weeds in agriculture and forestry. Biocontrol products generally fall into the following categories, depending on the “active ingredient” of each:

• invertebrate macrobials (i.e. natural predators and parasites),
• microbials (i.e. algae, bacteria, fungi and viruses),
• semiochemicals (i.e. pheromones, attractants and repellents),
• extracts from plant products (e.g., essential oils, chrysanthemum and mimosa extracts), and
• other natural substances (e.g. certain peptides, enzymes and RNA).

This article is one in a series providing case studies of biocontrol products that are on the market or under development in Europe.

The Horizon Europe project SAGROPIA is a five-year collaboration charged with introducing biocontrol products to combat pests and diseases in potatoes and sugar beets, while reducing chemical pesticide use by 50 percent. It aims to find alternatives to three “candidates of substitution,” chemical active substances of toxicological concern per Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009, by establishing semi-commercial production scale for 13 low-risk biopesticides.

Biocontrol solutions have shown success in greenhouse and high-value crops, but for row crops, they will require innovative strategies in Integrated Pest Management (IPM). To this end, SAGROPIA brings together 10 leading research institutes and agribusinesses from seven EU countries and the United States. With a budget of €6 million, the consortium will develop and implement innovative biopesticides and comprehensive IPM strategies. Both will be tested in field trials with growers and evaluated for environmental, social and economic sustainability to accelerate their market entry and uptake.

The 13 biocontrol products will be based on plant and microbial extracts as well as microorganisms to replace and/or reduce one or more chemical pesticides against target pests under controlled greenhouse conditions. SAGROPIA will obtain information on the activity of these products compared to the candidates of substitution and other chemical pesticides. Then it will upscale/formulate five biopesticides based on plant extracts or microbials, studying the mode of action of eight and the toxicological profile of four.

Evaluating the currently used IPM strategies for sugar beet and potato, the consortium will also develop alternative IPM strategies to incorporate SAGROPIA solutions. The new strategies will be tested in small field trials to determine the most promising ones. They will be conducted in five countries over three years for each crop. The final outputs will be grower’s guides on best practices and novel IPM strategies for potato and sugar beet.