Phytopesticides and their applications on lepidopteran pests

Agriculture plays a vital role in a developing country like India. Apart from fulfilling the food requirement of the growing Indian population, it also helps in improving economy of the country. Hence the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in Indian agriculture has a sharp impact in enhancing crop yields in the recent years. An increase in use of these chemicals has caused heavy damage to human health. Use of fertilizers, pesticides helped a lot in the annual productivity of the crops. But in spite of this, food insecurity and poverty still prevails prominently in our country. Use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers have caused negative impact on environment by affecting soil fertility, water quality, development of an insect resistance, genetic variation in plants, increase in toxic residue through food chain and animal feed, thus increasing health problems. Therefore there is urgent need of environmental friendly methods for improving soil fertility, pests and disease control strategy.