The global One Health approach recognizes that human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health are closely interconnected. It aims to overcome disciplinary silos by fostering collaborative, multi-sectoral, and transdisciplinary efforts to tackle health issues. Biological threats, such as human and animal diseases or crop pests, are prime examples of issues that need a One Health approach. As agriculture faces growing challenges from pesticide resistance, biodiversity loss, and climate change, biological control is an increasingly important tool for protecting plant health while supporting wider One Health goals.
How biocontrol supports sustainable pest management
Biological control, the use of natural enemies or antagonists to manage pests and diseases, has been practiced since 300 CE. It not only provides direct benefits by managing a wide range of pests and diseases, but also helps address global challenges such as chemical pollution, biocide resistance, biodiversity loss, and habitat destruction, thereby supporting sustainable pest management. Although biological control is most often associated with plant health, its benefits extend across all areas of One Health.
Biological benefits for human, animal, and ecosystem health
An increasing number of case studies demonstrate the benefits of biological control to human, animal, and ecosystem health. This includes biological control of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, human- or animal-disease-transmitting arthropods, allergenic weeds, and invasive species threatening natural ecosystems.
For example, biopesticides based on the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis or B. sphaericus are being used extensively to treat aquatic mosquito breeding habitats, which transmit diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus, or dengue.
Biological control can promote animal health by improving forage quality or quantity,or reducing pests and parasites that directly impact animal health. In aquaculture, for example, bacteriophages have great potential to replace antibiotics for treating pathogenic infections in fish farming, offering alternatives to chemical pesticides and treatments. Several companies have commercialized phage-based products for aquaculture, arguably the fastest-growing sector in the global food industry.
Plant health and biocontrol in One Health
Although plant health is included within the One Health framework, its practical integration lags behind environmental and human health initiatives. This can be partly explained by One Health’s historical focus on zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance. As a consequence, traditional One Health actors may fail to see the value of integrating plant health, while plant health professionals do not associate their work with One Health.
Yet, addressing the many health-related challenges stemming from agricultural intensification will require phasing down chemical inputs while actively conserving or restoring biodiverse agricultural landscapes that contain organisms providing critical ecological functions such as nutrient cycling, pollination, and biological pest control in agriculture.
Biological control can be very effective at reducing human exposure to pesticides. This approach is widely adopted in greenhouse production systems around the world, and mass-reared parasitic wasps and antagonistic fungi are also increasingly employed in field crops such as rice, soybean, sugarcane, or maize in Asia and Latin America.
Biological control of plant diseases hazardous to human and animal health is another example highlighting how a One Health perspective can increase the scope of biological control. Aflatoxins and other mycotoxins cause serious health issues in humans and animals. Treatment of maize with a biological control product containing atoxigenic Aspergillus isolates has been shown to lower aflatoxin contamination by up to 99%.
Importantly, biological control can help farmers substantially and sustainably reduce pest-induced food losses in a cost-effective way. For instance, adoption of biological control solutions against cereal pests has increased incomes and food availability in Kenya, Mozambique, and Zambia, lifting over 130,000 people out of poverty.
The CABI BioProtection Portal and its role in One Health
In the face of chemical pollution, biodiversity loss, and habitat destruction, there is a need to enhance the understanding and appreciation of biological control and alternatives to chemical pesticides, and to promote their application to address plant health challenges, with cascading benefits to human, animal, and ecosystem health.
To facilitate the adoption of biological control, farmers should have quick and simple access to information about biological control products and practices available in their country.
The CABI BioProtection Portal meets both needs. It is the world’s largest open-access resource on registered biocontrol products and provides practical guidance for safer pest management. The Portal has become an important resource for promoting the natural regulation of pests, weeds, and diseases worldwide. By helping users identify biocontrol products and access to practical guidance, it supports wider adoption of biological control and contributes to solutions for key One Health challenges.
