The continuous and reckless use of synthetic chemicals for the control of pests which pose a threat to agricultural crops and human health is proving to be counter-productive. 连续不断并且鲁莽地使用人工化学药剂来控制那些害虫，对农作物和人体产生了危害，也正在产生反效果。 Apart from engendering widespread ecological disorders, pesticides have contributed to the emergence of a new breed of chemical-resistant, highly lethal superbugs. 除了产生大量的生态紊乱，杀虫剂还促成了新一代的，抗化学药剂并且高度致命的超级害虫。

According to a recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), more than 300species of agricultural pests have developed resistance to a wide range of potent chemicals. 根据食品和农作物组织（FAO）的一项最近研究，超过 300 种农业害虫对大范围使用的强力化学药剂产生了抗性。 Not to be left behind are the disease-spreading pests, about 100 species of which have become immune to a variety of insecticides now in use. 比之更甚的是传播疾病的害虫中，大概有100 种已经对现在正使用的杀虫剂免疫了。

One glaring disadvantage of pesticides' application is that, while destroying harmful pests, they also wipe out many useful non-targeted organisms, which keep the growth of the pest population in check. 用杀虫剂的一个很大的缺点是，在消灭害虫的同时，也消灭了很多不该被消灭的生物体，这些生物体能抑制害虫生长。 This results in what agroecologists call the ' treadmill syndrome'. 这导致了一种被农业生态学家称为“脚踏机症状”的现象。 Because of their tremendous breeding potential and genetic diversity, many pests are known to withstand synthetic chemicals and bear off spring with a built-in resistance to pesticides. 由于害虫会大量繁殖具有潜在的遗传多样化的后代，它们被认为能够承受人工化学药剂且使得它们的后代有与生俱来的杀虫剂抗性。

The havoc that the ' treadmill syndrome' can bring about is well illustrated by what happened to cotton farmers in Central America. 在中美洲的棉农身上发生的一切证明了“脚踏机症状”的大破坏带来的严重后果。 In the early 1940s, basking in the glory of chemicalbased intensive agriculture, the farmers avidly took to pesticides as a sure measure to boost crop yield. 在 20 世纪 40 年代早期，沉浸在基于化学药剂的农业辉煌中，农民急切地使用杀虫剂作为一种提高农作物产量的必然手段。 The insecticide was applied eight times a year in the mid-1940s, rising to 28 in a season in the mid-1950s, following the sudden proliferation of three new varieties of chemicalresistant pests. 20 世纪 40 年代中期，一年内使用了 8 次杀虫剂，20 世纪 50 年代中期提高到了 28 次一个季节，随之而来的是的三种新型抗化学药剂的害虫的瞬间扩散。

By the mid-1960s, the situation took an alarming turn with the outbreak of four more new pests, necessitating pesticide spraying to such an extent that 50% of the financial outlay on cotton production was accounted for by pesticides. 到了 20 世纪 60 年代中期，4 种新型害虫的出现敲响了警钟，迫使杀虫剂喷洒达到这样一个程度：棉花生产 50% 的财政支出被花在杀虫剂上。 In the early 1970s, the spraying frequently reached 70times a season as the farmers were pushed to the wall by the invasion of genetically stronger insect species. 在 20 世纪 70 年代早期，农民被那些基因强化的害虫入侵所迫，频繁喷洒杀虫剂达一个季度 70 次。

Most of the pesticides in the market today remain inadequately tested for properties that cause cancer and mutations as well as for other adverse effects on health, says a study by United States environmental agencies. 一项美国环境公司的研究表明，今天大多数在市场上流通的杀虫剂没有经过足够的性能测试，来测试是否致癌、变异或者是对人体产生副作用。 The United States National Resource Defense Council has found that DDT was the most popular of a long list of dangerous chemicals in use. 美国国家资源防卫委员会发现，在一长串使用的危险化学品名单中，DDT 是最常见的。

In the face of the escalating perils from indiscriminate applications of pesticides, a more effective and ecologically sound strategy of biological control, involving the selective u~ of natural enemies of the pest population, is fast gaining popularity- though, as yet, it is a new field with limited potential. 面对不分青红皂白地使用杀虫剂所带来的逐步上升的危险，一种更有效地、生态上更稳定的生态控制策略，包括选择性地使用害虫的天敌，正逐渐获得青睐——虽然，至今为止，这还是一个新的有限潜能的领域。 The advantage of biological control in contrast to other methods is that it provides a relatively low-cost, perpetual control system with a minimum of detrimental side-effects. 相比其他方式，生态控制的优点在于，它提供了相对低廉、永久的控制系统，和最小化的有害副作用。 When handled by experts, bio-control is safe, non-polluting and self-dispersing. 在专家的处理下，生态控制是安全的、无污染的、自我分解的。

The Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control (CIBC) in Bangalore, with its global network of research laboratories and field stations, is one of the most active, non-commercial research agencies engaged in pest control by setting natural predators against parasites. 位于班加罗尔的生态控制联邦研究院（CIBC），拥有全球化的研究实验室和野外站，是现今最活跃的、非盈利性的，在害虫控制中运用天然的食肉动物来对付害虫的研究机构之一。 CIBC also serves as a clearing-house for the export and import of biological agents for pest control world-wide. CIBC 也是全球范围内的害虫控制生物机构的进口和出口的信息交换中心。

CIBC successfully used a seed-feeding weevil, native to Mexico, to control the obnoxious parthenium weed, known to exert devious influence on agriculture and human health in both India and Australia. CIBC 成功运用了一种原产于墨西哥的靠种子为生的象鼻虫，来控制令人讨厌的银胶菊草，这种草在印度和澳大利亚都有，且被认为对农作物和人体健康皆产生不好的影响。 Similarly the Hyderabad-based Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), supported by CIBC, is now trying out an Argentinian weevil for the eradication of water hyacinth, another dangerous weed, which has become a nuisance in many parts of the world. 与之相似的是，由 CIBC 支持的，位于印度南部海德拉巴的地区研究实验室（RRL），其正在尝试用一种阿根廷的象鼻虫来根除水葫芦，这些水葫芦是另外一种危险的物种，在世界上许多地方已成为了公害。 According to Mrs Kaiser Jamil of RRL, 'The Argentinian weevil does not attack any other plant and a pair of adult bugs could destroy the weed in 4-5 days. RRL 的 Kais Jamil 女士说：“阿根廷象鼻虫并不攻击其他的植物，一对成虫能在 4 到 5 天内摧毁害虫。 ' CIBC is also perfecting the technique for breeding parasites that prey on 'disapene scale' insects - notorious defoliants of fruit trees in the US and India. ”CIBC 正在完善技术来培养以“disapenescale”害虫为食的寄生虫——一种在美国和印度臭名昭著的致使水果树掉叶子的害虫。

How effectively biological control can be pressed into service is proved by the following examples. 生态控制手段是如何有效地被运用的可以由下面的例子来证明。 In the late 1960s, when Sri Lanka's flourishing coconut groves were plagued by leaf-mining hispides, a larval parasite imported from Singapore brought the pest under control. 在 20 世纪60 年代晚期，那时斯里兰卡茂盛的椰子树正遭受以叶子为生的毛毛虫的攻击，一种从新加坡引进的幼年寄生虫使虫害得到了控制。 A natural predator indigenous to India, Neodumetia sangawani, was found useful in controlling the Rhodes grass-scale insect that was devouring forage grass in many parts of the US. 人们发现，一种印度本土的天然食肉动物 Neodumetia sangawani，对控制大范围的 Rhod 虫害很有效，这些害虫在美国大多数地方疯狂地吞噬饲草。 By using Neochetina bruci, a beetle native to Brazil, scientists at Kerala Agricultural University freed a 12-kilometrelong canal from the clutches of the weed Salvinia molesta, popularly called 'African Payal' in Kerala. 在印度西南部喀拉拉邦农业大学的科学家们通过一种巴西本土的甲虫——Neochetina bruci，从魁叶萍的杂草手上解放了一条长达 12 公里的运河。这种魁叶萍在喀拉拉邦通常被称为“African Payal”， About 30, 000 hectares of rice fields in Kerala are infested by this weed. 在喀拉拉邦大约 3 万公顷丰饶的土地被这种杂草所影响。