DBT Biopesticides - Role of DBT

Biological control of pests and diseases has undergone a great deal of development in the last one and a half decade in India. Both Center and State Governments have been strong supporters of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) with main emphasis on biological control. Realizing the potential of biocontrol and taking cognizance of the need to extend this technology from laboratory to field, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has gone in a big way to support a major programme in this area since 1989. DBT has made concerted efforts towards the development of biopesticide technology in the country in the last 15 years in a systematic way by launching various programmes and projects. The main objective of the programme is to develop safe and efficient biopesticide formulations, as well as cost effective commercially viable mass production technologies of various biocontrol agents / biopesticides (which include microbial pesticides- baculoviruses, entomopathogenic fungi and nematodes, antagonistic fungi and bacteria, parasitoids and predators; pheromones, other semiochemicals; botanical pesticides and plant growth regulator) for use under Integrated Pest Management and their bioefficacy tested through large scale front line field demonstrations against the key pests and diseases of economically important crops in varied agro-climatic zones.

DBT established a National Biocontrol Network Programme (NBNP) in 1989 to study the management of key insect pests, diseases and weeds of economically important crops viz., cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, oilseeds, pulses, vegetables, fruits, spices and plantation crops. This network is a continued activity of the Department. Almost 200 R&D projects have been implemented so far in ICAR/CSIR Institutes and SAUs throughout the country.

Based on the technology developed through DBT’s, NBNP, two model production units for biocontrol agents were set up at TNAU, Coimbatore and Madurai to assess their commercial viability. Already some private individuals, entrepreneurs, progressive farmers, unemployed agricultural graduates and science graduates have started producing biocontrol agents.

During 1993-94, a time bound, goal oriented mission mode programme was launched on the development, production and demonstration of biocontrol agents under “IPM” in 15 States. Under this programme, 20-production units and 2 repository centers were set up in various States with the main objective to revalidate and fine-tune the technology packages best suited for various agro-climatic zones and also to develop farmer’s oriented technology packages for their large-scale adaptation and adoption. The cost of crop protection was optimized and income / profit maximized through demonstration trials. Economic benefits have been realized in terms of yield increase, monetary gain and reduction in the pesticide consumption. Successful demonstration trials under this programme (55000ha) have culminated in the recommendation of specific biocontrol agents as an ecofriendly option in IPM modules by various State Departments of Agriculture

Subsequently a major R&D programme on Biological control of crop pests and diseases under IPM as a component of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) programme was launched in 1998-99 on the role of biological resources for Integrated Nutrient and Pest Management (INPM) for increasing agricultural productivity in existing cropping systems. It was launched at 14 centres in 12 states with the main aim to develop cost effective, sustainable and eco-friendly modules / package of practices in different ecosystems and also to demonstrate the sustained preservation of ecosystem by conducting front line demonstrations in identified clusters / adopted villages by adopting IPM and INM techniques.

Several cost effective, sustainable and eco-friendly IPM-INM modules in different ecosystems have been developed for various crops viz., rice, pigeonpea, chickpea, french beans, soybean, lentil, green pea, mustard, tomato, brinjal, capsicum, cauliflower, cabbage, chilli, coconut etc. The cost-benefit ratio of IPM-INM modules worked out at large scale trials showed significant tilt in favour of adopting the technology by farmers for different crops.

Achievements made in the National Biocontrol R&D Network Programme, mission mode and INM-IPM programme are:

ii) Effective and commercially viable mass production technologies of about 30 candidate biocontrol agents/ biopesticides

iii) Demonstration of the field efficacy of biocontrol agents/ biopesticides under different ecosystem in various economically important crops covering 1,80,000 ha.

iv) Economic benefits realized in the IPM trials by computing the cost benefit ratio in terms of a) monetary gain; b) yield increase; c) reduction in pesticide consumption

v) Several cost effective, sustainable and eco-friendly IPM-INM modules have been developed for various crops

vi) Sustained preservation of the ecosystem has been successfully demonstrated in IPM-INM adopted villages.

vii) General awareness created about the biocontrol based IPM technology among the extension functionaries and the farming community.

viii) Gap of availability of sufficient quantity of biocontrol agents alongwith the quality control and their adoption and adaptation in farmers’ field have been bridged to a considerable extent.

Standardized cost effective and commercially viable mass production technologies of various candidate biocontrol agents/biopesticides viz. a) Microbials- NPVs of Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura, Hyblaea puera, Spilosoma obliqua and GVs of Chilo infuscatellus and Plutella xylostella, Trichoderma viride, T. harzianum, T. koningii, T. virens, Myrothecium verrucaria, Aspergillus niger, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescense, Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Nomuraea rileyi, Debaromyces henseni and Pochonia chlamydosporia b) Parasitoids and Predators – Trichogramma chilonis, T. polae, T. japonicum and Chrysoperla carnea c) Entomopathogenic Nematodes (EPN) - Steinernema carpocapsae, S. biocornutum, S. seemai sp. n., and Heterorhabditis indica. d) Pheromones – Insects sex pheromone lures for Chilo sacchariphagus indicus and Scirpophaga incertulas.

Several mass production technologies of biocontrol agents / biopesticides have been developed, standardised and transferred. The fermentation based technologies of 3 biocontrol agents viz., Trichoderma viride, T. virens, Bacillus spp. and 3 biofertilizers viz., Rhizobium spp, Azotobacter spp., and Azospirillium spp. have been transferred as an integrated package for biopesticides and biofertilizers to M/s Prathishta Industries Ltd., Secundrabad (A.P.) and M/s Haryana Biotech, Gurgaon. Mass production technology of Aspergillus Niger (AN27) was transferred to M/s Cadila Pharma. Mass production technology of HaNPV(Heliokill), SlNPV (Magic), SoNPV (Spilocide), Phule Trichocards (Trichogramma chilonis), Phule Trichoderma have been developed, formulated, branded and being produced and supplied to farmers in large quantities for demonstration. A solid state fermentation technology of Trichoderma harzianum has been developed at Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) Calicut and transferred to 10 private entrepreneurs in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Mass production technologies of HaNPV(1000 LE/day) and SlNPV (500 LE/day) developed at UAS, Dharwad are ready for transfer. HaNPV(1000 LE/day) has also been developed using local strains / resources at RARS, Lam, Guntur and have been transferred to five industries. A mechanized system of mass production of Trichogramma chilonis has been developed at IARI and ready for transfer. At G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttaranchal, mass production technologies of two high temperature tolerant strains of Trichogramma poliae and T. japonicum have been developed and negotiations are on for technology transfer.

Mass production technologies of Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescens developed at Tamil Nadu Agricultural Universisity, Coimbatore have already been transferred to various industries. At Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Kerala, mass production technology of HpNPV against Hyblaea puera (teak defoliator) has been developed for teak forest ecosystem. Techno-economic feasibility has been studied. Seven formulations of this NPV have also been developed and mode of application on teak trees has been standardised and perfected. Technology is ready as a full package for transfer. In the case of Steinernema carpocapsae and Myrothecium verrucaria, technologies are being fine tuned for upscaling the production and increasing the shelf life for commercialisation.

The pheromone technologies for the management of Internode Borer (Chilo sacchariphagus indicus) of sugarcane have been developed at SPIC research foundation and is ready for transfer. Rice yellow stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas) has been successfully managed through sex pheromone technology and demonstrated at multi location trials (300 acre). This technology has been developed at IICT, Hyderabad in collaboration with and DRR.

Initiatives taken by DBT to facilitate the registration and commercialisation of biopesticides

The Department has taken initiatives to facilitate the registration and commercialization of biopesticides. As per the gazette notification of the Central Insecticide Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India dated 26th March, 1999, the biopesticides have been put under the Insecticides Act 1968. As such, the generation of toxicological data and bioefficacy data has become a pre-requisite for the registration of the biopesticides.

With a view to facilitate the commercialization and quick dissemination of the newly developed eco-friendly technologies, Department has organized an interactive workshop on “Eco-friendly technologies of Biopesticides and Biofertilisers for Crop Management” on 17-18th April, 2000. Several important issues related to the registration and commercializations of biopesticides were addressed and various recommendations emanated which were taken up with the concerned ministries. At the initiative of the Department, the Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage, Dept of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture convened several meetings of the technical group of the registration Committee of the Central Insecticides Board (CIB). The existing data guidelines/data requirements for the registration of biocontrol agents/biopesticides were reviewed, simplified and streamlined as per the recommendation of DBT. The revised guidelines have been issued by CIB in November, 2000.

Further, to overcome the constraints in the registration of biopesticides developed through the Department’s R&D effort, the department has taken a pro active step and decided to provide support for the generation of toxicological data for the registration of biopesticides in a phased manner. In the first phase, nine potential biopesticides viz., Trichoderma viride, T. virens, T. harzianum, Beauveria bassiana, Nomuraea rileyi, NPV of H. armigera, NPV of S. litura, NPV of Hyblaea puera and Myrothecium verrucaria have been taken up for generation of toxicological data from two identified CSIR centres. In the second phase, other 8-10 biopesticides will be covered.

In order to ensure the quality control of the developed biopesticides, DBT has also designated seven referral laboratories in the country for certifying / accreditation of the biopesticide products. These centers are Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat; University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad ; Mahatama Phule Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Pune; Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu; Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar and Allahabad Agricultural Institute Deemed University, Allahabad (U.P.). These centres have developed sufficient core competence as well as infrastructure through DBT’s support for handling quality control and assurance parameters of the biopesticides under existing regulatory guidelines.

Department is making a systematic approach for the commercialization of the biopesticide technology developed through R&D effort. At the instance of DBT, an extensive market survey study is being carried out by Biotech Consortium India Limited to assess the gap between region wise demand and supply of biopesticides based on agricultural practices, crops and their crop profile. The authentic data generated through this study would help in attracting entrepreneurs for commercialisation of the technologies and also in creating awareness among farmers for proper selection and usage of biopesticides and their purchase from a suitable dealer. In addition, this study will also help the policy makers in taking decisions for further development of biopesticides in the country.