Question

Address the following question. Use at least 250 words to address this question.

How does the interactions between parasite or predator host affect how susceptible the crop is to the pests and how the interactions may be used as elements of a control program.

Answer 1

The interaction between predator or parasite with its host helps in determining the susceptibility of the crop towards the pest. One of the factors or type of interaction which helps in establishing the susceptibility of the plants to predation or prey is production of metabolites. They are some chemical compounds which helps in making them more susceptible to pest by attracting it through chemical signal or smell. They establish an interaction between the pest and host which tends to predate the plant host. Some of the example of metabolites like glusinolates or saponin helps in attracting the predator like a herbivore towards it. There are even compounds which are produced by the root rhizome which tends to attract certain toxic bacteria like root feeding nematodes which tends to cause the poisoning.

Understanding these type of interactions can help in control program. This is by finding a way to reduce the interaction between the pest and the host plant by releasing predators for the pest. As a control system, natural enemies of the pest can be released in the environment that will prey on the plant predator and hence it can help in maintaining an ecological balance. An example for the same is of weevil larvae which tends to damage many crops and in order to control the same, small parasitic wasps or lacewings are released which prey on the weevil larvae. Hence the biological control agents can stabilize the system and hence is reducing the preying of the host plant.