Strategies for sustainable and ecofriendly pest management in Agroecosystem

With the rapid exponential growth in the human population, the world's formidable challenge is food security. The extensive urbanization is leading to a decline in agricultural land. Thus for enhancing the quality and productivity of agriculture and to sustain the increasing food demands, the pesticides are being extensively used for the last few decades and have become an indispensable part of the agricultural system. Crop pests can erupt to an unmanageable extent when mismanaged leading to economic losses of crop. No doubt, these chemicals increase the farm output still; their excessive, injudicious and indiscriminate use has posed a significant threat to the environment through bioaccumulation. Natural enemies have been killed, nontarget organisms have been damaged, and the ecological balance has also been disturbed by these chemical pesticides. Moreover, their usage has led to rapid emergence of resistant species of pest, polluted the environment, and contaminated food leading to severe health problems. Millions of agrochemicals are added annually to soils in and near marine environments that subsequently pollute wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, and other bodies of water and are thus ecologically unacceptable. These problems have necessitated the research for the alternative, safe and biodegradable compounds and methods for incorporation in pest management programs. These alternative pesticides will enable the farmers to have a high yield and to reduce environmental damage. Therefore, this chapter provides an insight on various plant-based compounds that are having the potential to be used as biopesticides and emphasizes recently isolated molecules inducing feeding deterrence in pests. The roles of essential oil-based pesticides, hormones, semiochemicals, allelochemicals, entomopathogens, etc. in pest management are also discussed. The ecological and health effect and the prospects of these alternatives are also highlighted.