Current Status of Botanical Pesticides for Crop Protection

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