Nanotechnology applications in insect pest management- a review

Abstract

The great challenge of feeding ever growing human populations today is complicated by concerns about the risks of environmental pollution and human health associated with conventional pesticides. Among the recent technological advancements, nanotechnology shows considerable promise to combat these challenges. Most of the conventional pesticides are lost or decomposed while application itself and only 0.1 per cent finally reaches the target pests. Problems such as harmful solvents, poor dispersion, and drift losses can be very well addressed by nanotechnological interventions. Nanotechnology is defined as the branch of science which deals with the characterization, fabrication and manipulation of materials at nano scale,1-100 nm (Hanford et al., 2014). Revolutionary changes in agriculture have been made with the introduction of nanofertilizers, nanopesticides and nanosensors which improved crop production and resource utilization efficiency, facilitate precise and safer application of pesticides as well as detection of pesticide residue in the produce. Important nanoformulations include nanoparticles, nanoemulsion, nanoencapsulation and nanogel. As far as pest management is concerned, these novel nano agricultural products will provide multiple benefits such as reduced use of chemical pesticides, lower environmental pollution and decreased pesticide residual contamination in food and other commodities.