Bio Pesticides
Bio Pesticides
Keywords
fertilizers; pesticides; agricultural
Agriculture is adversely affected by numerous pests like bacteria, fungi, weeds and insects, leading to reduced
yield and poor quality of the produce [1]. Since 1960s, the most common method for pest control has been the
intensive use of synthetic pesticides. Such pesticide was adopted in 1940s with the use of dichloro-diphenyl-
trichloroethane (DDT), followed by other organophosphate and carbamate pesticides [2]. Thereafter, Green
Revolution technology of crop production could increase food production in developing countries through the
intensive use of inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides etc. Albeit, the use of the agrochemicals helped a
lot in increasing agricultural productivity; they have caused adverse effects on soil health, water quality,
produce quality and developed problems like insect resistance, genetic variation in plants, toxic residues food
and feed. Moreover dependence on chemical pesticides and their indiscriminate use caused several
detrimental effects on the Recognizing the ill effects of the agrochemicals such as pesticide resistance, pest
resurgence, outbreak of secondary pests, pesticide residues in the produce, soil, air and water [3], it has
become important now to develop alternatives of these synthetic agro-inputs. The need of the day is to produce
maximum from the diminishing natural resources and protect the produce from post-harvest loses without
adversely affecting the environment. Use of biofertilizers and biopesticides can play major role in dealing with
these challenges in a sustainable manner.
Biopesticides and biofertilizers, the naturally occurring formulations made from the substances that control
pests by non toxic mechanisms and in ecofriendly manner, are not newer technologies. They have been used
in various forms since human civilization. Biopesticides being a living organisms (natural enemies) or products
there of pose less threat to the environment and to human health, hence can be used for the management of
pests. One of the most widely used microbial biopesticides isBacillus thuringiensis, popularly known as Bt.
Potential benefits of the use of biopesticides to agriculture and public health programmes are considerable.
Advantages of Biopesticide
Biopesticide is gaining interest because of its advantages associated with the environmental safety, target-
specificity, efficacy, biodegradability and suitability in the integrated pest management (IPM) programs. Thus,
biopesticide is one of the promising alternatives to manage environmental pollutions. Though potential
application of biopesticides in environmental safety is well known, it has gained interest in view of the growing
demands for organic food. Although use of agrochemicals is indispensable to meet the ever growing demands
of food, feed and fodder, opportunities do exist in selected crops and niche areas where biopesticides can be
used as a component of IPM. Through wider application of biopesticides in agriculture and health programs,
environmental safety can be beneficially affected.
Present Status
Presently, biopesticides cover only 2% of the plant protectants used globally; however its growth rate shows an
increasing trend in past two decades. Global production of biopesticides has been estimated to be over 3,000
tons per year, which is increasing rapidly. Increasing demand of residue-free agricultural produce, growing
organic food market and easier registration than chemical pesticides are some of the key drivers of the
biopesticide market. Globally, the use of biopesticides is increasing steadily by 10% every year. About 90% of
the microbial biopesticides are derived from just one entomopathogenic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. More
than 200 products are being sold in the US market, compared to only 60 comparable products in the EU. More
than 225 microbial biopesticides are manufactured in 30 OECD countries [4]. The NAFTA countries (USA,
Canada, and Mexico) use about 45% of the biopesticides sold, while Asia lacks behind with the use of only 5%
of biopesticides sold world over [5].
Most of the countries have amended their policies to minimize the use of chemical pesticides and promote the
use of biopesticides; however biopesticides are still largely regulated by the system originally designed for
chemical pesticides. This has created market entry barriers by imposing burdensome costs on the biopesticide
industry [6]. Although for effective utilization of biopesticides several technological and policy gaps have been
identified, they need to be addressed properly at the country level. Policy measures need to be strengthened in
order to reduce excessive use of chemical pesticides and to promote the use of biopesticides.
One of the major obstacles in promoting biopesticides as alternative to chemical pesticides is the lack of profile
of biopesticide, which reflects weakness of the supporting policy network. Relative immaturity of the policy
network, limited resources and capabilities, and lack of trust between regulators and producers are some of the
serious problems. Better understanding of the mode of action of biopesticides, their effects and regulatory
issues that arise in their adoption may help further to raise their profile among the public, policy-makers and
hence enable them to realize their contributions to sustainability. Since the environmental safety is a global
concern, we need to create awareness among the farmers, manufacturers, government agencies, policy
makers and the common men to switch-over to biopesticides for the pest management requirements.
Recent Advances
The science of biopesticide is still considered to be young and evolving. In-depth research is needed in many
areas such as production, formulation, delivery and commercialization of the products. Some of the
biopesticides, currently under development, may prove to be excellent alternatives to the chemical pesticides.
Many of them are based on the locally available plants like beshram, neem, garlic, triphala, pinus kesia etc.
which can be easily processed and made available to the farmers to improve biopesticide consumption. In
addition to the continuous search for new biomolecules and improving efficiency of the known biopesticides,
recombinant DNA technology is also being deployed for enhancing efficacy of biopesticides. Novel fusion
proteins are being designed to develop next-generation biopesticides. The technology allows a toxin (not toxic
to higher animals) to be combined with a carrier protein which makes it toxic to insect pests when consumed
orally, while it was toxic only when injected into a target prey by a predator [7]. The fusion protein may be
produced as a recombinant protein in microbial system, which can be scaled up for industrial production and
commercial formulations. Several other innovative approaches are also being applied to develop biopesticides
as effective, efficient and acceptable pest control measures.
Future Prospects
Biopesticides are attracting global attention as safer strategy to manage pest populations such as weeds, plant
pathogens and insects while posing less risk to human being and the environment. In the US, biopesticides are
monitored by Environmental Protection Agency which supports their registration based on the findings of no
unreasonable adverse effects to human and the environment to permit their sale and distribution under the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as well as ensures a reasonable certainty of no
harm under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to provide pesticide residue-free food and
feed [8]. Most of the times, it is the farmers who are affected by the problems of pesticide resistance and
withdrawal of plant protection products, and yet they are policy takers rather than policy makers. Hence, a
public-private sector approach to the development, manufacturing and sale of environment friendly alternatives
to chemical pesticides for developing countries is the need of the day.
Research in production, formulation and delivery may greatly assist in commercialization of biopesticides. More
research is needed towards integrating biological agents into production system, improving capability of
developing countries to manufacture and use biopesticides. At the same time, it is also required to encourage
public funded programmes, commercial investors and pesticide companies to take up biopesticide enterprises.
Equally important is the development of strict regulatory mechanisms to maintain the quality and availability of
the biopesticides at affordable cost in the developing countries. Thus, various aspects of biopesticides covering
the current status, constraints, prospects and regulatory network towards their effective utilization for the
benefit of human kind need to be reviewed regularly.
Concluding Remarks
The world production and utilization of biopesticides are increasing at a rapid pace. The interest in organic
farming and pesticide residuefree agricultural produce would certainly warrant increased adoption of
biopesticides by the farmers. Training on production and quality control to manufacturers, and organizational
training to extension workers and farmers to popularize biopesticides may be essential for better adoption of
this technology. As environmental safety is a global concern, we need to create awareness among the farmers,
manufacturers, government agencies, policy makers and the common men to switch-over to biopesticides for
pest management requirements. It is also believed that biological pesticides may be less vulnerable to genetic
variations in plant populations that cause problems related to pesticide resistance. If deployed appropriately,
biopesticides have potential to bring sustainability to global agriculture for food and feed security.
The views expressed here are those of the authors only. These may not necessarily be the views of the
institution/organization the authors are associated with.
References
1 Kumar S (2012) Biopesticides: a need for food and environmental safety. J Biofertil Biopestici 3:e107.
1 Nicholson GM (2007) Fighting the global pest problem: preface to the special toxicon issue on insecticidal
toxins and their potential for insect pest control. Toxicon 49:413-422.
1 Al-Zaidi AA, Elhag EA, Al-Otaibi SH, Baig MB (2011) Negative effects of pesticides on the environment and
the farmers awareness in Saudi Arabia: a case study. J Anim Plant Sci 21:605-611.
1 Hubbard M, Hynes RK, Erlandson M, Bailey KL (2014) The biochemistry behind biopesticide efficacy.
Sustainable Chemical Processes 2:18.
1 Bailey KL, Boyetchko SM, Lngle T (2010) Social and economic drivers shaping the future of biological
control: a Canadian perspective on the factors affecting the development and use of microbial biopesticides.
Biol Control 52:221229.
1 Kumar S, Singh A (2014) Biopesticides for integrated crop management: environmental and regulatory
aspects. J Biofertil Biopestici 5: e121.
1 Fitches E, Edwards MG, Mee C, Grishin E, Gatehouse AMR, Edwards JP, Gatehouse JA (2004) Fusion
proteins containing insect-specific toxins as pest control agents: snowdrop lectin delivers fused insecticidal
spider venom toxin to insect haemolymph following oral ingestion. J Insect Physiol 50: 6171.
1 Leahy J, Mendelsohn M, Kough J, Jones R, Berckes N (2014) Biopesticide oversight and registration at the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In Biopesticides: state of the art and future opportunities. Eds Coats
et al. ACS Symposium Series, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC.
India, Science and Technology: 2008
Scope of Biopesticides
A pesticide that is of biological origin i.e., viruses, bacteria, pheromones, plant or
animal compounds is known as biopesticide. Or simply origin of the active
ingredient of a biopesticide is natural not synthetic. They are highly specific
affecting only the targeted pest or closely related pests and do not harm humans or
beneficial organisms while chemical pesticides are broad spectrum and known to
affect non-target organisms including predators and parasites as well as humans.
The striking feature of biopesticides is environment friendliness and easy
biodegradability, thereby resulting in lower pesticide residues and largely avoiding
pollution problems associated with chemical pesticides. Further, use of biopesticides
as a component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs can greatly
decrease the use of conventional (chemical) pesticides, while achieving almost the
same level of crop yield. However, effective use of biopesticides demands
understanding of a great deal about managing pests especially by the end users.
In terms of production and commercialization also biopesticides have an edge over
chemical pesticides like low research expenditure, faster rate of product
development as well as flexible registration process.
However, some of the factors which have restricted the growth of biopesticides are:
Usage of Biopesticides
The global weighted average consumption level of biopesticides is approximately 1
kg/ha. With the global organic farming area comprising about 24 million hectares,
global biopesticide consumption is thus estimated at about 24 million kg.
Industry Overview
The Biopesticide market is growing very rapidly. In 2005, biopesticides accounted
for about 2.5% of the total pesticide market, which was merely 0.2% during 2000.
This share is expected to grow to about 4.2% by 2010 while the market value is
estimated to reach more than US$ 1 billion (Source: BCC research). However, the
overall growth rate of biopesticides is estimated to be about 10% per annum for the
next 5 years.
In terms of use, orchards claim the largest share (55%) of the total biopesticides
used. Region wise, North America consumes the largest share (40%) of the global
biopesticide production followed by Europe and Oceanic countries accounting for
20% each.
Biopesticide in India
Biopesticides represent only 2.89% (as on 2005) of the overall pesticide market in
India and is expected to exhibit an annual growth rate of about 2.3% in the coming
years (Thakore, 2006). In India, so far only 12 types of biopesticides have been
registered under the Insecticide Act, 1968
(www.nicm.org.in/biopesticides/registered.htm). Neem based pesticides, Bacillus
thuringensis, NPV and Trichoderma are the major biopesticides produced and used
in India (http://coe.mse.ac.in/taxproj.asp). Whereas more than 190 synthetics are
registered for use as chemical pesticides. Most of the biopesticides find use in public
health, except a few that are used in agriculture. Besides, i) transgenic plants and
ii) beneficial organisms called bio-agents: are used for pest management in India.
Consumption of biopesticides has increased from 219 metric tons in 1996-97 to 683
metric tons in 2000-01, and about 85% of the biopesticides used are neem based
products. Consumption of chemical pesticides has significantly fallen from 56,114
MT to 43,584 MT during the same period.
Control of mango hoppers and mealy bugs and coffee pod borer
by Beauveria.
The National Centre for Integrated Pest Management (NCIPM) looks after plant
protection needs in various agro-climatic zones of the country. Besides, it oversees
the setting up and running of State Bio-control Labs (SBCLs). There are around 38
such SBCLs across the country, which are engaged in production and distribution of
natural predators and parasites to farmers.
The Insecticide Act of 1968 has been amended accordingly to simplify the process
of registration to allow speedier development and production of biopesticides.
The National Farmer Policy 2007 has strongly recommended the promotion of
biopesticides for increasing agricultural production, sustaining the health of farmers
and environment. It also includes the clause that biopesticides would be treated at
par with chemical pesticides in terms of support and promotion.
Acts/Policies Objective
Opportunities
Analysts believe that due to rising cost of developing new effective molecules
and the non-capability of most Indian companies associated with the
pesticide industry to invest such huge amount, there would be a greater
development in the biopesticides sector (Desai, 1997).
Due to its rich biodiversity India offers plenty of scope in terms of sources for
natural biological control organisms as well as natural plant based pesticides.
The rich traditional knowledge base available with the highly diverse
indigenous communities in India may provide valuable clues for developing
newer and effective biopesticide.
Suggested Readings:
ADB (Asian Development Bank), 2000. Rural Asia: Beyond the Green Revolution. ADB Manila,
Philippines.
Desai ST. 1997. Chemical industry in the post independence era: a finance analysis point of
view. Chemical Business, 11 (1), pXXV, 4p.
Kalra A & Khanuja SPS. 2007. Research and Development priorities for biopesticide and
biofertiliser products for sustainable agriculture in India. In. Business Potential for Agricultural
Biotechnology (Edited by Teng PS). Asian Productivity Organisation. Pp: 96-102.
Thakore Y. 2006. The biopesticide market for global agricultural use. Industrial Biotechnology,
Fall 2006: 194-208.
http://coe.mse.ac.in/taxproj.asp