Biopesticide

1. “One year of seeding, Seven years of weeding”
Weeds are the most severe and widespread biological
constraint to crop production and cause invisible damage
till the crop is harvested. Weeds are responsible for
reduction in crop yield and degrade quality of produce
besides raising cost of production.
Of the total losses caused by the agricultural pests, weeds
contribute to as high as 37 per cent. Unlike other pests,
weeds are ubiquitous and affect almost all the crops.
Presence of weeds in general reduces crop yield by 31.5
per cent. The composition and competition by weeds are
dynamic and dependent on soil, climate, cropping and
management factors. ( Vision 2030, DWSR, ICAR)

2. Weed problems are likely to increase due to increased
emphasis on high input agriculture. Further, globalization
would also result in new weed problems notwithstanding
strict quarantine regulations.
31% of the variation in yield loss due to weeds in cereal crops
in Sweden (Milberga and Hallgren, 2004)

3. There is an urgent need:
1) To discover and develop new weed control technologies
and
2) To improve existing weed control technologies that are
economically and environmentally sustainable.
There are three types of weed control
- Mechanical
- Chemical
- Biological

4. Mechanical weed control
 Mechanical weed control can be defined as any
physical activity that inhibits unwanted plant
growth. Mechanical, or manual, weed control
techniques manage weed populations through
physical methods that remove, injure, kill, or make
the growing conditions unfavourable.

5. Chemical weed control
1. Chlorophenoxy acid herbicides
2. Triazine herbicides
3. Organic phosphorus herbicides
 OpTill Pro (saflufenacil + imazethapyr and dimethenamid)
 Armezon 2.8SL (topramezone)
 Autumn Super 51WDG (iodosulfuron + thiencarbazone)
 Liberty (glufosinate) is the new name for, and identical to, the product
sold as Ignite in 2011
 Basis Blend 30WSG (rimsulfuron + thifensulfuron)
 Zemax 3.67ZC (mesotrione + S-metolachlor + safener)
 Gramoxone SL (paraquat)
 Fierce 76WG (flumioxazin + pyroxasulfone)

6. Indian herbicides

7. Drawbacks of using chemical herbicides
 The intensive use of chemical herbicides coming under
scrutiny due to an increasing number of resistant or
tolerant weeds. There are about 307 herbicide resistant
weeds biotype worldwide, 113 of these biotypes occurs in
the US alone (Heap, 2006). Continuous use of herbicides
can lead to the development of resistance in weeds to
herbicides viz. isoproturon resistance in Phalaris minor in
some parts of the country.
 Developmental Toxicity of a Commercial Herbicide Mixture
in Mice: I. Effects on Embryo Implantation and Litter Size
María Fernanda Cavieres, James Jaeger and Warren Porter
Environ Health Perspect 110:1081–1085 (2002).

8.  August 10, 1961, America began spraying Agent Orange in
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Operation Ranch Hand waged
herbicidal warfare for 10 years.
 Agent Orange: The Deadly Legacy of Chemical Warfare by
Stephen Lendman. Global Research, Aug. 20, 2012
 Radio talk of Radio Australia on 28 August 2012 with
Michael Boddington, advisor on disability and
rehabilitation at Laos' Prime Minister's Office. United
States and Laos yet to deal with Agent Orange legacy,
Nearly four decades after the end of the Vietnam War,
work has finally begun on cleaning up the first of the
hotspots in Vietnam that were contaminated by Agent
Orange.

9.  With the increased public awareness on
environmental pollution, the focus would shift to
the development of ecofriendly weed
new
management technologies in the
millennium.

10. Biological weed control
Biological control of weeds is the deliberate
use of natural enemies to suppress the
growth or reduce the population of a
problem weed species
 Insects
 Microbes
.

11. Oxyops vitiosa on Melaleuca quinauenervia: An adult and
feeding scars on fully mature leaves at the tip of a twig

12. Caterpillars of the moth Cactoblastis cactorum bore into the
pads of prickly pear. This damages the cactus and introduces a
bacterium that causes the plant to die.

13. The alligatorweed fleabeetle is one of a complex of insects
that successfully controls this floating aquatic weed

14.  Bioherbicides are biocontrol agents applied to
weeds in similar ways to conventional herbicides.
The active ingredient in a bioherbicide is, however,
a living micro-organism. Most commonly the
term
organism is a fungus, hence the
mycoherbicide is often used in these cases.

15. Biological weed control, primarily the augmentation of
indigenous fungal plant pathogens or the inundative
approach, has great potential to reduce chemical inputs
and to provide viable, economic, effective weed control
components within IPM programs.
Bioherbicides are applied in an attempt to overcome disease
restraints by periodically dispersing an abundant supply of
virulent inoculum onto a susceptible weed population. The
application is timed to take advantage of favorable
environmental conditions and/or the most susceptible
stage of weed growth.

16. Characteristics of good Mycoherbicide
They should be
 Culturable in artificial media
 Capable of abundant spore production
 Stable in storage
 Genetically stable
 Effective under field conditions
 Tolerant to variations in temperature
 Compatible with other chemicals/cultural practices.

17. Strategic framework for evaluation and
development of mycoherbicides
Mass
production
Formulation
Application
technology
Field
performance
Mycoherbicides
development

18. Development
The development of a biological herbicide
involves three major phases or stages:
1) Discovery,
2) Development
3)Deployment
(Templeton 1982).

19. The discovery phase involves the collection of
diseased plant material, the isolation of causal
organisms, the identification of the pathogen, the
culture of the pathogen on artificial media, and the
maintenance of the pathogen cultures in short-
term and long-term storage.

20. The development phase includes:
1)Determination of optimum conditions for spore
production
2)Determination of optimum conditions for disease
development and host damage
3)Examination of the infection process
4)Determination of the mode of action of weed
pathogens and/or toxins
5)Determination of host range
6)Quantification of the efficacy of the bioherbicide as a
control option.

21. Within the developed world the third phase, deployment,
involves close collaboration between researchers, farmers,
and the industrial sector for the production, possible
commercialization and use of bioherbicides. Formulation,
fermentation, regulatory aspects, marketing, and
implementation are essential aspects of this phase. Within
the developing world, on-farm production of bioherbicide
pathogens may be feasible.

22. The bioherbicide tactic differs from the classical biocontrol
method of weed control in which the dissemination and
reproduction of the biocontrol agent is left largely up to
nature. In the bioherbicide tactic, massive doses of
inoculum are applied directly to all the target weeds one
wishes to control. Thus the bioherbicide method requires
large numbers of viable propagules and a satisfactory
method of storing them so that their viability is
maintained until they are required for application.

23. Mass Production
There are potentially three fermentation systems
that may be used for mass production of
mycoherbicide agents:
 Submerged liquid culture
 Solid substrate fermentation
 Two-phase system

24. Formulation
 Formulation is essentially the blending of microbial propagules
with a range of carriers or adjuvants to produce a form that
can be effectively delivered to target weeds. For microbial
agents, formulation may enhance pathogen survival and
infection as well as extend propagule stability and product
shelf life.
Liquid formulations
These include aqueous, oil, or polymer-based products, that are mostly used as
postemergence sprays to cause leaf and stem diseases on the target weed.
Solid formulations
Solid or granular formulations are quite suitable for microorganisms that
infect their target weed at or below the soil level and hence suitable for pre-
emergence application

25. Application Technology
 The formulated product can be applied to the
soil, seeds or to aerial parts of the target weed.

26. Biological control organisms are most often host specific and
usually will control only one weed species. As a result, the
biological control strategy is narrow spectrum and
normally will be used in combination with other weed
control methods including hand weeding, mechanical
weeding, or chemical herbicides at low application rates,
to obtain the broad spectrum control of common weed
species

27. Commercially Registered Bioherbicides
Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference
Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides f. sp.
aeschynomene
Northern
jointvetch
Collego® Bowers, 1986;
Smith, 1982, 1991
Colletotrichum
gloeosporiodes f. sp.
malvae
Round-
leaved
mallow
BioMal® Boyetchko, 1999;
Mortensen, 1998;
Mortensen and
Makowski, 1997
Colletotrichum
gloeosporiodes
Silky Hakea Hakatak™ Morris et al., 1999
Phytophthora
palmivora
Stranglervine DeVine® Ridings, 1986

28. Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference
Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides
Dodder LuBao Templeton, 1992
Chondrostereum
purpureum
Black cherry BioChon™ Dumas et al., 1997
Cylindrobasidium
laeve
Acacia spp. Stumpout® Shamoun and
Hintz, 1998
Colletotrichum
coccodes
Velvetleaf Velgo® Butt, 2000

29. Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference
Cercospora rodmanii Water hyacinth ABG-5003 Charudattan, 1991,
2001
Alternaria cassiae Sicklepod, coffee
senna, and showy
crotalaria
CASST™ Charudattan et al.,
1986
Jemes 1988
Alternaria sp. Dodder Smolder® Bewick et al., 2000
Puccinia canaliculata Yellow nutsedge Dr.
BioSedge®
Bruckart and
Dowler, 1986;
Phatak, 1992

30. Pathogen Weed host Trade name Reference
Puccinia thlaspeos Isastis tinctoria Woad Warrior Strik et al., 2006
Chondrostereum
purpureum
Deciduous tree
species
MycoTech™ Barton et al., 2005
Chondrostereum
purpureum
Alders and Hard
wood
Chontrol™
Ecoclear™
Barton et al., 2005
Xanthomonas
Campestris
Annual bluegrass Camperico® Imaizum et al., 1997
Sclerotinia minor Dandelion Sarritor Abu-Dieyeh and
Watson 2009

31. DeVine®
Stranglervine
Phytophthora palmivora --- USA in 1981
It is a facultative parasite that produces lethal
root and collar rot in host. Used as a liquid
suspension formulation.
Botanical name: Morrenia odorata
Commanly found in citrus orchards

32. Collego®
Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. Aeschynomene --- USA in 1983
This used as dry powder
formulations. Fungus forms
special penetration structures
(appressoria) that can punch
the plant cuticule which is
essential for plant infection. It
causes lethal stem and foilage
blight in host. Newly registered
Jointvetchstems infected
with Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides
under the
Lockdown™
trade name of
and Lockdown
Retro™ ( Cartright et al. 2010)

33. Common name: Indian Joint Vetch,
budda pea, curly-indigo, kat sola,
northern joint-vetch
Hindi: didhen, phulan, chhuimui,
laugauni
Botanical name: Aeschynomene
indica
Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)
rice & soybeans
Northern jointvetch

34. Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes f. sp. Malvae --- Canada in 1992
This is hydrophilic fungus and
delivered as a wettable silica gel
powder.
Round-leaved mallow
Comman name: Common mallow,,
Cheeses, Garden mallow, amours
Botanical name: Malva pusilla
Family: Malvaceae
wheat, lentils & flax
Biomal®

35. Silky Hakea
Comman name: Needlebush or
Silky Hakea,
Botanical name: Hakea sericea
Family: Proteaceae
It is a large species of shurb
Hakatak™
Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes ---- South Africa in 1999
native vegetation

36. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. cucsutae--- China in 1963
Used as a liquid formulation of spores to
control Cuscuta chinensis and Cuscuta
australis.
Dodder
It is a leafless, parasitic plant that
removes nutrients, reduces yield
and even kills its host plant.
Dodder has been recorded on a
wide range of field crops, pasture
legumes, vegetables and
horticultural crops.
LuBao®

37. BioChon™
Chondrostereum purpureum --- Netherland in 1997
It causes silver leaf diesease
Comman name: black cherry
Botanical name: Prunus serotina
Family: Rosaceae
plantationforests

38. Stumpout®
Cylindrobasidium laeve --- South Africa in 1997
It causes White rot disease.
Usually supplied as an oil suspension
which is diluted with plant oil and painted
on to the surface of the cut tree stump.
Acacia spp.
Black (Acacia mearnsii) and Golden
Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)

39. Colletotrichum coccodes --- USA 4808069 Canada 1223005
Comman name: Velvet Leaf, Indian
Mallow, Indian Hemp, Cotton-Weed,
Butter-Weed
Botanical name: Abutilon theophrasti
Family - Malvaceae
This weed mainly found in
soyabean and maize crops.
Velgo®

40. ABG-5003
Cercospora rodmanii --- Abbott labs, USA
ABG consists mycelial fragments
and spores applied as wettable
powder.
Comman name: Water hycinth
Botanical name: Eichhornia Crassipes

41. CASST™
It causes seedling blight in sicklepod.
Spores are used in water with an oil
based adjuvant.(Upadhyay et al.,
2009)
Comman name: Sicklepod
Botanical name: Cassia obtusifolia
Mainly found in crops of Corn and
Soybean
Alternaria cassiae ---USA 1983

42. Comman name: showy crotalaria
Botanical name: Crotalaria spectabilis
Family: Fabaceae.
Toxic plant to livestock when seeds
or vegetation is consumed
(alkaloid toxicity). Tall growing
annual legume with showy yellow
flowers. Often referred to as
rattlesnake weed or rattlebox
because seed will separate from
replum when dry and will create a
rattling sound when disturbed.

43. Common Name : Coffee Senna, Negro
Coffee, Stinking Weed, Foetid Cassia
Botanical Name : Cassia Occidentalis
Family : Fabaceae (leguminaceae)

44. Dr. BioSedge®
Puccinia canaliculata ---USA 1987
It causes Rust.
Comman name: Yellow nutsedge
Botanical name: Cyperus esculentus
soybeans, sugarcane, maize,
potato & cotton

45. Smolder®
Alternaria destruens --- USA in 2005
Dodder
The active ingredient has been
formulated into two herbicidal end-
use products, Smolder G (a soil applied
granular) and Smolder WP (a spray
formulation).

46. Woad Warrior
Puccinia thlaspeos --- USA 2002 It causes rust in host plant
Comman name: Woad
Botanical name: Isastis tinctoria
also known asIsatis indigotica
Family: Brassicaceae

47. MycoTech™ Chontrol™ Ecoclear™
Chondrostereum purpureum --- Canada 2004
Deciduous tree species

48. Sarritor
Sclerotinia minor : Canada in 2007 It causes Sclerotinia blight, white
mold and watery soft rots in host.
Comman name: Dandelion
Botanical name: Taraxacum Officinale
Family: Asteraceae
Weed found in lawns/ turfs

49. Liquid suspension formulations
Common Name: Bluegrass,
Scientific Name: Poa annua
Weed Type: Grass
*Camperico®
Xanthomonas campestris --- Japan in 1997
It infects Poa plants through
wounds in the stem and leaf tissues
and multiplies in the vascular
system, causing wilting and death of
the plants.

50. *SolviNix™
Tobacco mild green mosaic tobamo virus (TMGMV) --
Florida
Tropical soda apple, TSA
Botanical name: Solanum viarum
Family : Solanaceae
liquid concentrate (SolviNix LC)
and a wettable powder
(SolviNix WP)

51. Challenges
 The challenges
advancement of bioherbicides
that have limited the
have been
categorized into four constraints:
(a) Biological
(b) Environmental
(c) Technological
(d) Commercial

52. Thank you