USE OF BOTANICALS TO CONTROL PESTS AND DISEASES
Plants play a vital role in human life as they provide feed
and fodder for humans and animals. They are also used as
drugs, food additives, pesticides, as flavor, fragrances, dye
and pigments.
Plants produce compounds for their growth and
development and also produce secondary metabolites
which provide additional properties to plants.
These secondary metabolites produced by plants are
responsible for these biocontrol activities. Plants have
been used as pesticides for protection of plants since
thousands of years.
Pyrethrum, neem, rotenone are such plants which has
been used in many cultures and traditions for crop
protection since ages and hold relevance in today’s world
as well.
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The botanical pesticides are divided into two
generations:
1. 1st Generation included –
Nicotine, Rotenone, Ryania, Pyrethrum
2. 2nd Generation included –
Synthetic Pyrethroids and Neem products
Potential new botanicals: Sucrose esters.
Annonaceous acetogenins.
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Nicotiana
Derris spp.
Ryania speciosa Chrysanthemum
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Plant extracts contain secondary metabolites which provide
protection to plants against pests by causing the following
effects:
mortality / toxicity
repellency
antifeedancy,
alters insects behavior during oviposition and mating and
inhibition of progeny emergence in pests.
Essential oils isolated from the plants have also pesticidal
properties. Lemongrass essential oils, Citronella essential oils,
Tea tree essential oils and Oregano essential oils are the
commonly used essential oils against the pests.
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IMPACT OF SYNTHETIC PESTICIDES IN PEST MANAGEMENT
The use of pesticides not only prevent crops from the
damage from the pests by improving productivity, but also
prevent reduction in crop yield, and reducing vector borne
diseases.
The estimated use of insecticide in India is 76% and globally
is 44%.
Continuous use of pesticides by humans over time has lead
to various health issues to human, livestock and a negative
impact on the environment.
Use of synthetic pesticides can result in various health
hazards in humans and other life forms and on non-target
organisms.
Synthetic pesticides also cause surface and ground water
contamination.
It changes soil fertility by degrading beneficial
microorganisms.
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The use of synthetic pesticides causes pesticidal occupational
poisoning to farmworkers, applicators and even consumers.
Emergence of pesticide resistant pests.
Therefore, an alternate to the synthetic pesticides
can be botanical pesticides which are isolated from the
plants. The concept of botanical pesticides can be traced back
to 400 B.C where the plant extracts have been used to protect
plants from many pests.
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BOTANICAL PESTICIDES IN PEST MANAGEMENT
About 2400 different plants have been documented for their
pesticidal activities.
Botanical insecticides can be crude plant extracts or dried and
grounded plant materials, or essential oils isolated.
This protective action against pests is due to secondary
metabolites produced by plants. These secondary metabolites
include alkaloids, steroids, phenols, flavonoids, non-protein
amino acids, quinones, tanins, terpenoids, glycosides,
glucosinolates etc.
Different plant parts - leaves, stems, barks, flowers, fruits, seeds,
cloves, rhizomes are used to prepare botanical pesticides.
The mode of action of most of the plants, their extracts and
essential oils are by repelling, oviposition deterrence, feeding
deterrence as well as interfering with physiological activities of
pests and can be toxic and lethal as well to them.
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A. Plant extracts/fractions:
Azadirachta indica known as Neem has been used as an
insecticide since hundreds of years. Neem-based products
have been widely used in agricultural sector and in vector
borne disease control such as malaria, dengue, and
chikungunya. Insecticidal activity of Azadirachta indica can
majorly be attributed to the component azadirachtin present
in it and it is present prominently in neem oil which is
obtained from the seed kernels of the neem plant. Bark,
leaves, flower, seeds of neem plant contain bioactive
components which have anticancer, antifertility,
antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, insecticidal properties.
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The neem extracts act on insects by exerting repellency,
antifeedant, ovipositional, antifertility, insect growth
regulatory (IGR) effects and also change the biological fitness
of insects.
Many neem products are commercially available and used by
the farmers for protection of crops.
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Other successful examples of biopesticides are Pyrethrum
isolated from Tanacetum cinerariifolium and Artemisia annua. T.
cinerariifolium, also known as Dalmatian pyrethrum, is endemic
to the east Adriatic coast but is grown worldwide.
Pyrethrin is the bioactive component present in pyrethrum
which has very high efficiency against variety of pests and does
not cause any or minor ill effects on human health and
environment.
Pyrethrin acts as contact poison, has neurotoxicant effects on
insect pests and it blocks voltagegated sodium channels in nerve
axons. This causes paralysis in insects leading to their death.
At lower concentrations, Pyrethrin acts as a repellent. Extracts
from Ryania speciosa acts against variety of pests including
codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.), citrus thrips (Scirtothrips
citri), Corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea Boddie), European corn
borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), and
leaf eating beetles such as green beetles (Colaspis favosa).
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B. Plant essential oils:
Essential oils extracted from many medicinal plants have
great potential to be insecticidal.
Essential oils and their components extracted from plant
source cause toxic effects in insects via contact, ingestion, or
fumigation.
Studies have shown the insecticidal activities of the essential
oils extracted from the plants belonging to Apiaceae,
Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Laureaceae, Myrtaceae and Rutaceae
families.
Essential oils from different plants can destroy and kill insect’s
species at their egg and larval stage or at an adult stage. They
can exert antifeedant and repellent behavior in insect pests.
Essential oils can change the feeding behavior of insects thus
causing mortality and also it alters insect’s behavior during
oviposition and mating.
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