THE National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) is currently focused on creating botanically based pesticides, intended to be as effective as the chemical based pesticides, but at half the cost and environmentally safe.

According to the Bio-pesticide Journal (2010), bio-pesticides (certain types of pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals) pose less threat to the environment and to human health. Further, it states that bio-pesticides gives considerable benefits, since they are less harmful, biodegradable and only target pests and closely related organisms.

Additionally, biocontrol agents are being investigated for the purpose of controlling harmful fungi. Like the botanical based pesticides, these should be eco-friendly and safe alternative control strategies for agriculture. Some plants contain components that are toxic to pathogens and when extracted from the plant and applied on infested crops, should serve the same purpose as the chemical fungicides.

Currently NAREI’s Plant Pathology, Entomology and Weed Science Department are tasked with this assignment. It is important that all areas are investigated thoroughly. There have been a number of research based in this very area.

Biopesticides fall into three major classes:
1. Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. Biochemical pesticides include substances that interfere with mating, such as insect sex pheromones, as well as various scented plant extracts that attract insect pests to traps.

2. Microbial pesticides consist of a microorganism (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient. Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively specific for its target pest[s].

3. The most widely used microbial pesticides are subspecies and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Each strain of this bacterium produces a different mix of proteins and specifically kills one or a few related species of insect larvae. While some Bt ingredients control moth larvae found on plants, other Bt ingredients are specific for larvae of flies and mosquitoes. The target insect species are determined by whether the particular Bt produces a protein that can bind to a larval gut receptor, thereby causing the insect larvae to starve.

4. Plant-Incorporated-Protectants (PIPs) are pesticidal substances that plants produce from genetic material that has been added to the plant. For example, scientists can take the gene for the Bt pesticidal protein and introduce the gene into the plant’s own genetic material. Then the plant, instead of the Bt bacterium, manufactures the substance that destroys the pest.

The advantages of using bio-pesticides:
* Biopesticides are usually inherently less toxic than conventional pesticides.
* Biopesticides generally affect only the target pest and closely related organisms, in contrast to broad spectrum, conventional pesticides that may affect organisms as different as birds, insects and mammals.
* Biopesticides often are effective in very small quantities and often decompose quickly, resulting in lower exposures and largely avoiding the pollution problems caused by conventional pesticides.
* When used as a component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes, bio-pesticides can greatly reduce the use of conventional pesticides, while crop yields remain high.
To use bio-pesticides effectively (and safely), however, users need to know a great deal about managing pests and must carefully follow all label directions. [NAREI]