Overview of Biopesticides in Plant Protection

Description

The global population is exploding at an exponential rate and is anticipated to reach approximately 9.7 billion by 2050, the largest share of which is in Africa and Asia. This has imposed a large burden on agriculture and its allied sectors in terms of meeting food demands, which requires more inputs for crop production. As a result, farmers use pesticides to solve this problem. Bio-pesticides are natural, biologically occurring compounds that are used to control various agricultural pests infesting plants in forests, gardens, farmlands, etc. There are different types of bio-pesticides that have been developed from various sources. This book “Overview of Bio-pesticides in Plant Protection” underscores the utility of bio-control agents composed of microorganisms including bacteria, cyanobacteria, and microalgae, plant-based compounds, and recently applied RNAi-based technology. These techniques are described and suggestions are made for their application in modern agricultural practices for managing crop yield losses due to pest infestation. Bio-pesticides have several advantages over their chemical counterparts and are expected to occupy a large share of the market in the coming period.