Biological control in stored product protection: what to consider around the protection of stored food stuffs

Abstract

For more than ten years biological control agents for stored product protection in storage rooms and food processing industry have been commercially available in Germany. In this time the number of offered parasitoids increased gradually. Compared to biological control in the field, a storage room is an artificial habitat that may allow rapid population increase of pests in case of suitable conditions. Provided that suitable beneficials are released at a low host density, a suppression of a pest population can be achieved. A contamination of food stuffs with residues of beneficials can be avoided as long as a cleaning step is possible prior to further food processing or if parasitization takes place outside of the stored product.