natural-products-in-plant-pest-management

10 Current Status of NaturalProducts in Pest Managementwith Special Reference toBrassica carinata as aBiofumigantMARÍA PORRASDepartment of Crop Protection, IFAPA Centro Las Torres – Tomejil,Sevilla, SpainAbstractThis chapter covers the use of natural products in plant disease management in theform of fungicides and bactericides, and personal experience of the development andoptimization of biofumigation with Brassica carinata and soil solarization as alternativesto the traditional use of chemicals in strawberry production. The potential of biofumigationas a component of the integrated management of soil pathogens has been demonstratedin various agricultural systems. The presence of high amounts of glucosinolates,and of the enzyme myrosinase that catalyses their hydrolysis, linked to the high biocidalactivity of some glucosinolate enzymatic hydrolysis derivative products have beensuggested for a practical use of amending soil with these natural biocidal compoundsthrough cultivation and green manure of selected species of the family Brassicaceae.10.1 IntroductionChemical pesticides such as methyl bromide are being phased out globallybecause of their impact on the ozone layer (European Parliament, 2000).Since 2005, the use of methyl bromide has been banned in European Unioncountries. Chemical, physical and biological alternative methods for pathogencontrol have been evaluated in crop production to replace the compoundslost due to the new registration requirements (Duniway, 2002; Martinand Bull, 2002; Porras et al., 2007b). Natural-product-based pesticides cansometimes be specific to the target species and have unique modes of actionwith little mammalian toxicity (Duke et al., 2003). Modern instrumentationand improved methods should increase interest in natural-product-basedpesticide discovery research (Duke et al., 2002).© CAB International 2011. Natural Products in Plant Pest Management(ed. N.K. Dubey) 205