Current Status of Botanical Pesticides for Crop Protection

The problems caused by synthetic pesticides have led the need for effective biodegradable pesticides with greater selectivity. Botanical pesticides are generally recognized as safe in agriculture systems. Thus, they have been regarded as attractive alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides for the pest management. Both lower efficacy and higher costs of production make botanicals more expensive to use than conventional pesticides. Moreover, only a small portion of plant-derived metabolites among a number of bioactive metabolites are in use because commercialization of botanicals is inhibited by several problems such as toxicity, or high production cost. However, with the growing acceptance of botanical pesticides as an efficient crop protection alternative resulting in increasing demand, plant-based pesticides will play a significant role in achieving sustainable agriculture in future.