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Issue: GM Crops Compliment Biological Control One group of non-target organisms that need to be encouraged is the natural enemies of our crop pests. Natural enemies are composed of a wide array of parasitic and predatory insects and other arthropods. Control of crop pests by natural enemies is referred to as biological control. Universities, as well as federal and state agencies have been working for years to increase the effectiveness and reliance on biological control. Unfortunately, biological control cannot prevent crop damage in all circumstances and farmers often need to apply pesticide sprays. Pest Control When these sprays include non-selective insecticides, the natural enemy populations are often hurt more than the pest that needed controlling. The reason is that while the pesticide may kill both the pest and its natural enemies, by killing the pest it has also eliminated the food source that the natural enemy populations will need to recover. Because of this, it often takes much longer for the natural enemy populations to recover than the pest population. In the absence of natural enemies, pest populations are able to increase much more rapidly. This can result in greater reliance on pesticide sprays after the natural enemies are eliminated. Genetically modified crops that produce their own plant pesticides are more compatible with biological control. The plant pesticides are more selective than most insecticide sprays. In addition they need fewer pesticide applications and help preserve natural enemy populations while being more compatible with biological control.