Biopesticides: A Need for Food and Environmental Safety

By Suresh Kumar. 2012

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The green revolution technology characterized by the use of high yielding varieties, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and water have resulted in a phenomenal growth in agricultural productivity. While the gains have been very impressive, the input intensive agriculture has resulted in some undesirable effects on the environment and the overall sustainability of the farming systems. The use of synthetic chemical pesticides has severely affected both the abiotic and biotic components of the environment. While the former is exemplified by pesticide residues in soil, air, water, food etc., the latter includes phytotoxicity, physiological deformities, diseases, mortality, population changes, genetic disorders, gene erosion, etc. in plants, mammals, avian, insects and other organisms. Entry of chemical pesticides into the food chain coupled with their bioaccumulation triggers several unforeseen consequences. DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), a modern chemical insecticide, was extensively used in protection of crops, forests and controlling insect-vectors of human diseases. As a contact poison against several arthropods, it was effectively used to combat mosquitoes spreading malaria, typhus and other insect-borne diseases. The indiscriminately used chemical insecticide led to the contamination of water and food sources, poisoning of non-target beneficial insects and development of insect populations resistant to the insecticide [1].

Subfields: Insect Science, Molecular Biology, Plant Science

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