ABSTRACT
Abiotic and biotic stresses cause most of the yield losses in agriculture. To avoid downfalls in productivity, conventional management uses chemical pesticides to prevent damage caused by biotic stresses. However, combating damage resulting from extreme abiotic factors is an even more complex task because they are essentially unavoidable, generally being triggered in combination (e.g., drought plus intense sunlight). Some of the conventional methods to fight against stress cause problems to human health and/or environmental damages. To prevent these undesired side effects, the EU has enacted specific regulations governing the formulations used in crop farming. As a consequence, it is necessary to design new high-activity formulations with low toxicity. Among such alternatives to using pesticides, many research groups are looking for novel compounds capable of inducing a sensitization or primed state that helps plants face biotic and abiotic pressures. To achieve this goal they have developed different approaches to test them. This chapter presents an overview of the strategies currently used to discover and refine these novel agents, followed by the process of developing commercial plant-protection products beneficial to crop yield.
