Pheromone traps specialist AgriSense is warning that the development of biological pesticides is being held back by the same European rules that are restricting the use of conventional products.

Dr Owen Jones, chief executive of AgriSense, said: “There has never been a greater need for biological alternatives to conventional pesticides.

“The need to reduce pesticide residues and the growth in resistance from insects to conventional pesticides are both major issues facing growers and retailers.”

The increasing withdrawal of pesticides together with a lack of available new chemistry further complicates the issue. However, despite a recent announcement that the European Commission wants to encourage the use of biological alternatives, Jones claims regulators still group these products with conventional pesticides, with the result that they are caught up in the same reduction-of-use targets as agrochemicals.

He contrasts this approach with that of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US. “The EPA has a dual approach of measuring the risk and hazards of crop protection products, while facilitating the development of safer alternatives. That is the approach that should be taken in Europe,” he said.

According to Jones, biological control products account for five per cent of the total global insecticide market, worth some $9 billion (£6.33bn) a year.

He believes that the potential is to reach 10-15 per cent of the market by 2020.