Sustainable agriculture aims at increasing the yield of food and fiber crops and reducing the incidence of pests and diseases to such a degree that they do not cause extensive damage to crops. With the advent of chemical pesticides in 1940s, this crisis was resolved to a great extent. But the over dependence on chemical pesticides and eventual uninhibited use of them has caused serious health and environmental problems. This concern has encouraged researchers to look for better alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Bio pesticides can make important contribution to sustainable agriculture and help reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.  

Bio pesticides: Certain types of pesticides derived from natural materials such as animals, plants, bacteria, virus, protozoa and certain minerals. For eg: canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal application.

Types of Biopesticides

Ø Microbial pesticides

Ø Plant-Incorporated -Protectant

Ø Biochemical pesticides

Microbial Pesticide

It 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]. Most widely used microbial pesticides are subspecies and strains of Bt(Bacillus thuringiensis). 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's control moth larvae found on plants, other Bt's 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

Plant Incorporated Protectants 

Pesticidal substances that are produced from plants  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.

BioChemical Pesticide

Biochemical pesticides are Naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. It includes substances like insect sex pheromones, that interfere with mating, as well as various scented plant extracts that attract insect pests to traps.

Uses of bio pesticides in agriculture

Various fungus , bacteria , virus and plant product are used as pesticides to control the various pests in agricultural crops. Bio pesticides commonly used in agriculture field are:

v  Trichoderma spp.

v Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki

v Nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV)

v Beauvaria bassiana

v Neem based pesticides

Inorganic pesticides are highly persistent in nature and has great adverse effect in environment, human health and in different ecosystem. Reliance on pesticides to control the various pest in agricultural field with a aim to increase the production per unit area is a great challenge for sustainable agriculture. Hence to reduce the various health problem to produce the quality food and to face the challenge of sustainable agriculture due to reliance of pesticides, use of biopesticides is the best option.