Trophobiosis Theory: A Pest Starves on a Healthy Plant

Summary

Trophobiosis Theory is a thesis proposed by Francis Chaboussou, an agronomist of the France’s National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), in “Healthy Crops: A New Agricultural Revolution”. After two decades, this important book is finally available in English. Trophobiosis has been characterised by the former Minister for the Environment in Brazil, Jose Lutzenberger, as: “a pest starves on a healthy plant” (1995). The essence of Trophiobiosis theory is that pests shun healthy plants, pesticides weaken plants, and weakened plants are more open to pests and disease, and hence pesticides precipitate pest attack and disease susceptibility and thus induce a cycle of further pesticide use.