■Introduction

Objectives

Modern agricultural science has greatly contributed to the welfare of mankind through the increased food production; especially the development of chemical pesticides which significantly raised agricultural productivity. However, the world-wide pollution and environmental endocrine disrupters caused partly by the excessive use of chemical pesticides have brought about a warning on the survival of living things and threat to safety of food. Therefore, this project aims to develop and introduce bio-pesticides as an alternative to agro-chemicals, and establish a new farming system based on the use of health and environmentally-friendly bio-agents. Specifically, it aims (1) To search for plants with biologically active agents, and promote the use of bio-pesticides; (2) To search for parasitic microorganisms in soil, agricultural products and weeds, and develop its respective function; (3) To understand the function of insects, and establish natural enemies as control methods; and (4) To promote new alternative farming systems using bio-agents as control methods.

This project started in 1999, and it’s Phases I ended last March 2004. In Phase I, the research organization consisting of four (4) teams namely Microorganism Team, Bio-pesticide Team, Natural Enemies Team, and Farming Systems Team was established. Moreover, the developmental research on new bio-agents for alternative farming systems in Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Peru was implemented as an international collaboration. Experts on bio-pesticide, microorganism, natural enemies, farm management economics, and other relevant fields from sister universities namely Bogor Agricultural University (IPB, Indonesia), Udayana University (UNUD, Indonesia) and National Agrarian University La Molina (UNALM, Peru) were involved.

In Phase II (April 2004~), the search for new bio-agents, development research and fields experiments were carried on; while practical application and dissemination of newly developed agents and technologies were actively promoted at the field level. During this phase, Kasetsart University (KU) was added in the research organization due to the rapid growing interest towards the application of bio-pesticides in Thailand.

The final goal is to develop alternative farming systems, which use new bio-agents, instead of synthetic chemical agents, in crop production process. Because some new agents have already been developed, and some are still being developed, emphasis should be given to the improvement of applicability of new agents and technologies, with actual adoption by the farmers at the field level.

Target Crops

Research Organization

In Phase I, the project leader was Prof. Emeritus Dr. Toshiro Matsuda. On the other hand, Prof. Dr. Akimi Fujimoto, director of the Center for International Programs and professor at the Graduate School of Agriculture is currently the project leader from Phase II. In order to conduct research smoothly, four research teams are organized and headed by respective team leaders namely Microorganism Team (Dr. Kazuo Suyama), Bio-pesticide Team (Dr. Kanju Ohsawa), Natural Enemies Team (Dr. Shuji Okajima), and Farming Systems Team (Dr. Akimi Fujimoto). Each team consists of research members from six (6) universities，Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Udayana University (UNUD), Kasetsart University (KU), National Agrarian University La Molina (UNALM). There are also assigned coordinators per collaborative university. Additional collaborative members are locally recruited in accordance with the need of each team.

The Microorganism Team, Bio-pesticide Team, and Natural Enemies Team are concentrating on the development of new bio-agents, which can be used in actual agricultural production, replacing chemical inputs. On the other hand, the Farming Systems Team is clarifying future directions in improving the existing farming systems and is conducting economic and productivity analysis of these new bio-agents and technologies. Improvement in farming systems can be expected only when new bio-agents have successfully been utilized in actual agricultural production leading to environmental conservation and the production of safe foods.