ABSTRACT
Exploratory and developmental research on biological controls for crop diseases is being undertaken by both governmental agencies and private industrial research laboratories on an unprecedented scale. The discovery and development of biological control of crown gall by Agrobacterium radiobacter strain K84 has been a most timely and effective catalyst for changing attitudes toward biological control. Genetic engineering will contribute some spectacular advances to agricultural productivity and to agricultural pest management. Inevitably, it will also contribute to some spectacular problems. The success of man’s exploitation of genetic engineering in the area of agricultural production will depend, not on the genetic engineers, but on the overall wisdom and judgement of the agronomists, biologists, ecologists, industrialists, and politicians who make the decisions on how the powerful tools of this new technology are to be used. Any overall crop disease management program starts with the soil. A major component of biological balance in the soil ecosystem is the level of total microbial activity.
