Abstract
The world population is projected to be 9.1 billion by the year 2050, and about 70% extra food will be required. One of the main challenges regarding food security is postharvest loss due to insect pests. The overall postharvest grain losses for sub-Saharan Africa could be as high as US$4 billion/year. This is around 15% of the total production of cereal crops. The use of chemical pesticides to reduce grain damage by insects over the past five decades has led to a range of environmental and human health problems. These problems forced researchers to develop alternative methods that have lower adverse effects. Alternative strategies focus on new forms of pesticides that are effective against a specific target species, have fewer residues in food, are unlikely to contaminate the environment, and have lower potential to produce resistance, are biodegradable, and are suitable for use in integrated pest management programs. Some natural plant products effectively meet these criteria and have the potential to manage insect pests of stored grains. However, the understanding of the use of botanical pesticides in storage pest management systems is limited in most parts of sub-Saharan African countries. Effective plant products are not formulated and used widely. To fill the gaps the first step is to synthesize the available information and disseminate it. This review is, therefore, a summary of the current developments and improvements of botanical pesticides in the management of stored grain pests including challenges and future issues in insect pest management.
Highlights
Food insecurity has become a serious issue in subSaharan African countries, which is reminiscent of the same issue in Asia many years earlier. e latest information showed that over the 10 years, the world’s population is predicted to increase by more than one billion people reaching 8.6 billion in 2030 and rise up to 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100 [1]
Plant-derived pesticides are less understood in sub-Saharan countries [31]. erefore, this review article was an effort to summarize the current knowledge and progress related to botanical pesticides
Botanicals were used before other kinds of pesticides. ey were used intensively by countries like Egypt, China, Greece, Italy, and India, where the use of the neem tree (Azadirachta indica Juss.; Meliaceae) was reported in the Veda, a large body of religious manuscripts written in archaic Sanskrit dated at least 4,000 years ago [32, 33]. e repellency effect of plant material has been exploited for thousands of years by human beings by placing bruised plants over the roof of the houses, a practice that is still widely used throughout developing countries. e use of plant extracts and plant parts in the form of powder as insecticides dates back at least as far as the Roman Empire [34]
Summary
Food insecurity has become a serious issue in subSaharan African countries, which is reminiscent of the same issue in Asia many years earlier. e latest information showed that over the 10 years, the world’s population is predicted to increase by more than one billion people reaching 8.6 billion in 2030 and rise up to 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100 [1]. Storage insect pests cause 20–30% loss of maize grain during a given storage period [5, 10]. E use of conventional pesticides for many years has led to problems in agriculture, the environment, and human health [20] It caused genetic resistance and pest resurgence of insect species, left toxic residues in the treated products, caused handling hazards and health hazards to operators [21]. Ey are effective and more biodegradable, cause less contamination to the environment, have less potential to produce resistance, and leave fewer residues in food [27–29]. They are more economical and environmentally friendly [30]. Plant-derived pesticides are less understood in sub-Saharan countries [31]. erefore, this review article was an effort to summarize the current knowledge and progress related to botanical pesticides
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