Village-Level Production and Use of Biocontrol Agents and Biofertilizers

Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... 653

References ................................................................................................................................... 653

A prime objective of agriculture in the coming decades must be to optimize soil

productivity while preserving the capacity of soils to function as healthy systems. This

is particularly important for the stressed soils that are so abundant in most developing

countries. Increasing productivity in perpetuity without inducing any associated

ecological or social ill-effects — achieving what M.S. Swaminathan has called the “ever-

green revolution” (Swaminathan, 1996) — is imperative if we are to reduce poverty and

hunger without worsening people’s current living conditions and future prospects. In this

move towards more sustainable agricultural practices, the use of biological inputs will

play a key role in the maintenance of soil fertility and in increasing crop production.