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Biocontrol Agents: Potential of Biopesticides for Integrated Pest Management

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Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture and Environment

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 55))

Abstract

Active compounds of biological origin and their synthetic derivatives are in high demand for crop protection over conventional pesticides since synthetic chemicals have reduced availability, adverse toxicological effects, and resistance and pest resurgence issues. Insecticides of biological origin (biopesticides) are less toxic and effective in small quantities and decompose quickly, leaving not much burden on environment. These are mostly target-specific and do not affect nontarget organisms much. Many of the bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, protozoans, plants or plant-derived products (botanicals), pathogen/predator systems, insect pheromones, and plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs) are widely used as biological control agents for insect pest management (IPM). Among all, Bacillus thuringiensis-based biological insecticide has been primarily developed and commercialized. Biotechnological approaches such as transgenic technology and nanotechnology have recently come up that have potential to enhance expression and delivery mechanisms of biopesticide. Though the list is huge, only a limited number of living system-derived compounds have been used commercially, which are amenable to mass production and affordable to the growers. This chapter addresses the recent status of microbial control agents as biopesticides, which is used to improve agricultural productivity by restricting pest infestation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Hans Raj College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Archana Singh & Richa Bhardwaj

  2. Molecular Biology Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Indrakant K. Singh

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  1. Archana Singh
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  2. Richa Bhardwaj
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  3. Indrakant K. Singh
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Correspondence to Archana Singh or Indrakant K. Singh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Swami Shraddhanand College University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Bhoopander Giri

  2. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ram Prasad

  3. College of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China

    Qiang-Sheng Wu

  4. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ajit Varma

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Singh, A., Bhardwaj, R., Singh, I.K. (2019). Biocontrol Agents: Potential of Biopesticides for Integrated Pest Management. In: Giri, B., Prasad, R., Wu, QS., Varma, A. (eds) Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture and Environment . Soil Biology, vol 55. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18933-4_19

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