Division of Agricultural Chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012
The synthetic pesticides have reigned supreme as the principal pest and disease control agents during the past five decades. It is estimated that over 5 million tonnes of pesticides have been used world over during this period immensely benefiting the mankind. However, the intensification of agriculture, has increased number of insect pest species attacking different crops. As a result, nearly 35% of the standing crops is still destroyed. Thus, while there is an ever increasing need of using more and more of pesticide for pest control, there are problems such as pest resistance, pest resurgence, damage to non-target flora, fauna and other useful organisms, residue etc. are bothering man. Mitigation of these problems has necessitated a search for alternative means of pest control that are effective and environmentally benign. In such a scenario, botanicals and biopesticides have emerged as viable alternatives to the synthetic pesticides. Several reviews and other publications have reported information on the development and use of botanical and biopesticides time to time. This paper overviews the developments in these fields during the past one decade.
