Biorational Pesticides: An alternate Alternative to Pest Control (original) (raw)

2020, Indian Farmer Magazine

Global agriculture is currently challenged to provide increasing supplies of food for a growing population due to the changing trends of insect attacks and climatic conditions. There is overwhelming evidence that the use of chemical pesticides have created many other serious problems like ecological backlashes in pest species, environmental pollution and degradation, threat to biodiversity conservation, loss of beneficial fauna (predators, parasites, pollinators etc) and human beings in particular. Keeping in view, the new generation of pesticides have attracted attention in pest management in recent years, Biorational pesticides as “third-generation pesticides” are derived from some natural source and impose minimum or no adversarial threats on the environment or beneficial organisms. Some examples of biorational pesticides are the microbial pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Kurstaki), neonicotinoids, avermectins, phenlpyrazoles, spinosyns, pyrroles, oxadiazines and various groups of insect growth regulators. With a narrower target range of pests, they also tend to have a more specific mode of action. This new class of pesticides are often designed to control a pest population to a manageable level rather than completely eradicate a target pest. These products have great potential for replacing the persistent conventional insecticides, confirming effective cost-benefit ratio, tackling ecological backlashes and ensuring food security with safe environment. The field of biorational pesticides is deep; consequently they are a source of both optimism and concern. However, these bio-products are not only winning the reliability of the market and end user; but also demonstrating their worth and potential in sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) program.