Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Rural Development
Introduction
Pest induced crop loss is on the rise despite increasing usage of pesticides. Fortunately, realization of
the negative effects of chemicals (including on humans) have shifted the focus to more reliable,
sustainable and environment friendly agents of pest control - the Bio-pesticides. In spite of the
claimed efficacy, their use, however, has remained very low due to a number of socio-economic,
technological and institutional constraints. Nonetheless, rise in income levels coupled with increasing
awareness of health related effects of chemicals has increased the demand for organic foods. In view
of this demand and the government’s efforts to mitigate climate change, bio-pesticides are going to
play an important role in future pest management programmes. The status of bio-pesticide as well as
their future prospects for increasing agricultural production in general and for sustainable rural
development in particular is discussed here.
Scope of Bio-pesticides
A pesticide that is of biological origin is known as bio-pesticide. 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 beneficial organisms including
humans.
The striking feature of bio-pesticides is environment friendliness and easy biodegradability. In terms
of production and commercialization also bio-pesticides have an edge over chemical pesticides
because they involve low research expenditure and have faster rates of product development.
Usage of Bio-pesticides
The global weighted average consumption level of bio-pesticides is about 1 kg/ha. With the global
organic farming area comprising about 24 million hectares, global bio-pesticide consumption is thus
estimated at about 24 million Kg.
Industry Overview
In 2005, bio-pesticides accounted about 2.5% of the total pesticide market, up from 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 (BCC research). Orchards claim the largest share (55%) of
450 70
300
Number of papers
250 40
200 30
150
20
100
10
50
0 0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Fig 6-19.01: Trend of bio-pesticide research outputs
Source: Scopus; keyword-biopesticide
Opportunities
If we consider the global usage of 1 kg of bio-pesticide per hectare of organic farming area, India
should be consuming at least 1,00,000 MT of bio-pesticide instead of the present 2,890 MT. This
indicates the huge scope for growth of the bio-pesticide sector in India. Due to rising cost of
developing new molecules and the incapability of most Indian companies to invest such amounts,
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there should be greater growth in the bio-pesticide sector. Rich biodiversity of India offers plenty of
scope for natural biological control organisms as well as natural plant based pesticides. Rich
traditional knowledge base of the diverse indigenous communities may provide valuable clues for
developing effective bio-pesticides.