Why aren’t entomo-pathogenic nematodes registered under the Insecticides Act 1968?
Above: Entomopathogenic nematode- Heterorhabditis [courtesy: late Dr S Ganguly] and Below: Steinernema infective stages emerging from Galleria cadavers on the right [credit: Dr. Sharad Mohan] below. Pesticides are a broad group of chemicals, biologicals and the latter’s products effective against pests which affect crops, animals and human health. These pesticides are classified as insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, weedicides etc depending upon the target pests. Since these are selective poisons and yet likely to affect environment as well as human health, their use and many other aspects of their production, storage, transport and marketing are regulated under the Insecticides Act 1968. Synthetic pesticides were the first to come under this Act because of their high toxicity and availability. Over the years, ecologically safe biopesticides were developed. And this group included naturally occurring plant extracts, modified natural products, synthetic natural products like
