This document discusses biopesticides as an alternative to chemical pesticides. It defines biopesticides as compounds that manage agricultural pests through specific biological effects. Biopesticides are derived from animals, plants, and microorganisms and are less harmful than chemicals. They are more target specific and decompose quickly, leaving few residues. The document describes several important biopesticides used in India including Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which kills pest larvae; Trichoderma, effective against soil-borne diseases; Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, fungi that infect and kill insects; and Trichogramma wasps that parasitize eggs of lepidopter

1. BIOPESTICIDES
Presented By
Dr. V. RAMSEH,
Assistant Professor & Head i/c
Department of Botany
Vivekananda College
Tiruvedakam West – 625 234
ramesh.vnr09@gmail.com
+91 9842629245

2. What is Biopesticide?
Biopesticides refers to compounds that are
used to manage agricultural pests by means
of specific biological effects.

3. Advantages of using Biopesticides
• Biopesticides are derived from animals, plants and micro-
organisms such as bacteria and viruses.
• They are inherently less harmful than chemical pesticides
• They are more target specific than chemical pesticides
affecting only the target pests and their close relatives. In
contrast, chemical pesticides often destroy friendly insects,
birds and mammals.
• They are often effective in small quantities. Also, they
decompose quickly and do not leave problematic residues.

4. Microbial biopesticides are of three
kinds
• Bacterial biopesticide
• Fungal biopesticide
• Viral biopesticide

5. Some Important Biopesticides
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
• Bacillus thuringiensis is the most commonly
used biopesticide globally.
• It is primarily a pathogen of lepidopterous
pests which are some of the most damaging.
• When ingested by pest larvae, Bt releases
toxins which damage the mid gut of the pest,
eventually killing it.
• Bt based pesticides are being marketed by
three companies in India. The total sale in
1999 was about 70 tons.

7. Process for using & Effects
Symptoms
Larvae stops feeding.
Larvae becomes sluggish
and static.
Water oozes out from
the body.
Larvae dies and falls off
the leaf.
Various species of Bt are
able to work against
cotton boll worm,
cabbage worm and
gypsy moths.

8. Trichoderma.
• Trichoderma is a fungicide
effective against soil born
diseases such as root rot.
• It is particularly relevant
for dryland crops such as
groundnut, black gram,
green gram and chickpea,
which are susceptible to
these diseases.
• Three companies are
marketing trichoderma in
India.

9. Fungal Biopesticides
Beauveria bassiana
Metarhizium anisopliae
Mode of action
• Beauveria bassiana, used against Colarado potato beetle, Codling moth and American
boll worm.
• This fungus invades the haemocoel of insects through spores.
• Once the spores attach to the cuticle, it germinates and the hyphae penetrates the
insect cuticle
• Penetration is aided by formation of appresorium and penetration peg.
• The fungi secrete chitinases, lipases and proteases which can dissolve the cuticle.
• The hyphae enter the haemolymph and proliferate and colonise the entire insect and
release blastospores.
• Insect death occurs due to nutrient depletion of the haemolymph or by toxaemia by
secretion of toxic metabolites.

10. Trichogramma
• Trichogramma are minute wasps which
are exclusively egg-parasites.
• They lay eggs in the eggs of various
lepidopteran pests. After hatching, the
Trichogramma larvae feed on and
destroy the host egg.
• Trichogramma is particularly effective
against lepidopteran pests like the
sugarcane internode borer, pink
bollworm and sooted bollworms in
cotton and stem borers in rice. They are
also used against vegetable and fruit
pests.
• Trichogramma is the most popular bio-
control agent in India, mainly because it
kills the pest in the egg stage, ensuring
that the parasite is destroyed before any
damage is done to the crop.

11. Baculoviruses
• These are target specific viruses
which can infect and destroy a
number of important plant pests.
• They are particularly effective
against the lepidopterous pests of
cotton, rice and vegetables. Their
large-scale production poses certain
difficulties, so their use has been
limited to small areas.
• They are not available
commercially in India, but are being
produced on a small scale by
various IPM centres and state
agricultural departments.
Viral Biopesticides

12. Neem
• Derived from the neem tree
(Azadirachta indica), this contains
several chemicals,including
‘azadirachtin’, which affects the
reproductive and digestive
process of a number of important
pests.
• Recent research carried out in
India and abroad has led to the
development of effective
formulations of neem, which are
being commercially produced.
• As neem is non-toxic to birds and
mammals and is non-
carcinogenic, its demand is likely
to increase.

13. Some Important Plants used for Biopesticides in India

14. THANK YOU