Resistance induced by plant products: alternative for agricultural pest management

Abstract

Defense responses in plants are a vital aspect, taking into account that they are constantly exposed to the attack of numerous pests. These responses can be induced or primed. Priming allows cells to respond to very low levels of a stimulus in a more rapid and robust way in the presence of the pest. There are different alternatives for priming, as well as different types of inducers. Natural extracts from plants, including (predominantly) essential oils, have been the subject of numerous studies in recent years. These inducers, which are exogenous (by their origin) and biotic (by their nature), have advantages that make them attractive as another tactic to integrate in pest management. Some of these advantages refer generally to the non-toxicity, which makes them ecologically friendly to the environment and human. Another important aspect is that since they are a mixture of compounds with different modes of action, it is much more difficult for resistance to appear in pests, an aspect that has been appearing with the application of chemical pesticides. It is also suggested that this is a phenomenon that occurs in nature, from the communication between the attacked and healthy plants, and that it constitutes the knowledge base of allelopathy. Bearing in mind the importance of the subject at present, the objective of this article is to gather information about resistance induced by natural extracts, general concepts, advantages, and aspects to take into account for their possible success in practical application, some elements about costs, and how they should be analyzed in this case, as a contribution to the theoretical preparation of different social actors on this subject, drawing attention to the novelty and usefulness of this kind of resistance.