Ecological pest control fortifies agricultural growth in Asia-Pacific economies

The Green Revolution is credited with alleviating famine, mitigating poverty and driving aggregate economic growth since the 1960s. In Asia, high-input technology packages secured a tripling of rice output, with germplasm improvements providing benefits beyond US$ 4.3 billion/year. Here, we unveil the magnitude and macro-economic relevance of parallel nature-based contributions to productivity growth in non-rice crops over 1918-2018 (covering 23 different Asia-Pacific geopolitical entities). We empirically demonstrate how biological control resolved invasive pest threats in multiple agricultural commodities, ensuring annually-accruing (on-farm) benefits of US$ 14.6-19.5 billion/year. Scientifically-guided biological control of 43 exotic invertebrate pests permitted 73-100% yield-loss recovery in critical food, feed and fiber crops including banana, breadfruit, cassava and coconut. Biological control thereby promoted rural growth and prosperity even in marginal, poorly-endowed, non-rice ...自20世纪60年代起，绿色革命（Green Revolution）因缓解饥荒、减轻贫困并推动整体经济增长而广受赞誉。在亚洲，高投入技术组合使水稻产量增至原来的三倍，而种质（germplasm）改良带来的年收益超过43亿美元。本研究揭示了1918年至2018年间，亚太地区23个不同地缘政治实体中非水稻作物领域，以自然为基础的平行贡献对生产力增长的影响规模及其宏观经济相关性。本研究通过实证分析证明，生物防治（biological control）如何解决多种农业商品面临的入侵性虫害威胁，每年可带来146亿至195亿美元的（农场层面）收益。针对43种外来无脊椎害虫开展的科学指导下的生物防治，使香蕉、面包果、木薯、椰子等关键粮食、饲料与纤维作物的减产损失得到73%至100%的挽回。因此，即便在土地禀赋不佳的边际非水稻种植区域，生物防治也推动了乡村增长与繁荣……