Constraints in Adoption of Biopesticides and Biological Control Agents: An Extension Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/asl.2025.1.03.04Keywords:
biopesticides, biological control agents, adoption constraints, agricultural extension, Garrett ranking, sustainable agriculture, technology transferAbstract
Biopesticides and biological control agents (BCAs) are central to reducing chemical-pesticide dependence and advancing sustainable crop protection, yet their field-level adoption remains persistently low relative to their demonstrated technical potential. This review synthesises extension-oriented empirical literature — drawing on studies from India (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar), the Philippines, Iran, Kenya and Tanzania — to develop a typology of constraints spanning knowledge and awareness, technical performance, economic, institutional/extension, regulatory and socio-psychological dimensions. Reported adoption rates ranged from 25 percent (Andhra Pradesh BCAs) to 60.7 percent (South Cotabato rice BCAs), with biopesticides accounting for only about 4.2 percent of India's pesticide market against a global average of roughly 10 percent. Across the reviewed studies, knowledge and awareness gaps were the most frequently cited barrier, followed closely by weak institutional/extension support and doubts about product efficacy. The review situates these findings within diffusion-of-innovation, theory-of-planned-behaviour and health-belief-model frameworks and argues that a strengthened, better-resourced extension system — rather than product innovation alone — is the pivotal lever for closing the adoption gap. Recommendations for extension policy and practice are outlined.
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