Nanotechnology: A Way Forward for Insect Pest Management

Abstract

Synthetic pesticides have become an unavoidable component of Indian agri-culture. The increased use of these chemicals in the agricultural industry has resulted in several health and environmental risks. Recently, nanotechnology has revolutionized the world because of its numerous benefits. Actually, nanotech-nology is an interdisciplinary science that has the potential to transform current technology. Nanotechnology is any engineered material, structure, or system that operates on a scale of a hundred nanometers or less. Nanoparticles have proper-ties and behave differently from coarser bulk materials with similar chemical compositions due to their nanoscale. Because the chemicals are smaller, they spread more evenly on the pest and host surfaces and thus provide better action than conventional pesticides. Several formulations have been created, including nanosuspensions, nanoemulsions, nanoencapsulation, and nanoparticles. Nano-formulated pesticides greatly reduce the dosage of chemical insecticides. Nanoparticles have been shown to cross biological membranes and kill cells. As a result, the role of nanotechnology in developing nanopesticides is an effective way to fill the gap in the conventional insecticide group.