Definition:
Economics of biological control: Classical biological control typically is performed by personnel of universities and federal and state departments of agriculture. Once a classical biological control agent is imported and populations of it are established, the benefits of its actions are free; the natural enemy is not for sale, nor is there any point in selling it. In contrast, although basic research toward use of a biopesticide may be performed by university personnel, the later development is performed by commercial companies which expect to profit by repeated sales. Therefore, classical biological control depends only upon funds for research and dissemination, and may yield an extremely good cost-benefit ratio. Biopesticides are marketable products which recoup their developmental costs through sales, and may not be less expensive than chemical pesticides.