lthough the use of biological contr

lthough the use of biological control in the management of soil-borne diseases has long been a goal of sustainable agriculture, examples of successful applications in commercial field crop production remain limited. Discussion of the use of microbial inoculants for biological control of soil-borne diseases usually begins with a statement of their potential as a disease management strategy rather than a specific statement of their effective implementation. Interest and excitement in the field of biological control have increased with the seasons, but more recently it has been revived in efforts to promote "engineered" or "synthetic" microbial communities to control soil-borne diseases. The question remains whether success can be achieved through the application of rigorous biological disease control (that is, distribution in the form of biological pesticides) or whether the successful use of biological control requires broader consideration to include methods that rely on local microbial resource management in agricultural soil systems.