ABSTRACT
Development of production technology, distribution, and sales of entomopathogenic nematode-containing products is occurring at a rapid pace. The strategies of commercial development which are selected will have a significant effect on how production technology develops and on which technologies are eventually implemented. The venture model can be successful when proprietary technologies can be developed in a relatively short time and when market development is possible in an equivalent time period. Existing technologies for the production of entomopathogenic nematodes have developed over a period of 60 years. The large-scale production of entomopathogenic nematode-containing products must be planned in a context composed of the production plant, distribution system, and application environment if the production system is to be profitable and self-sustaining. Economies of quality are expected because the nematodes would be produced in a homogeneous and reproducible environment. Economies of scale are cost decreases which result from increasing scale of operation and derive from three sources: capital, labor, and materials.
