Author(s):

Mushtaq Ganai, Zakir Khan and Baba Tabasum

Abstract: Population growth pressure and limited options have put enormous burden to meet food demand which is a major concern and challenge in India, where the diverse agro-climatic conditions necessitate different approaches to cultivation and protection of crops. To overcome this challenge, chemical fertilizers and pesticides were introduced in 1940s with the use of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, followed by other organophosphate and carbamates pesticides, by virtue of which the production and productivity of crops has increased many fold. Despite spectacular progress made in the area expansion and acceleration of agriculture production, the pace of development has started stumbling down due to devastating emerging challenges in pesticide usage such as target pest resistance to pesticides, killing of beneficial organisms, resurgence of pests, secondary pest outbreak, and residues in food, water, air and soil, elimination of natural enemies and disruption of ecosystem. This paper provides a brief overview on current challenges and issues related to pesticides and on available strategies to overcome these challenges.

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