Regulatory issues in commercialization of Bacillus thuringiensis-based biopesticides

Abstract

The utility of biopesticides, as a component of integrated pest management (IPM), has won acceptance over the world. An entomopathogenic organism should be highly specific and effective against the target pest and should be successfully produced. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was discovered as a soil bacterium, which fulfills all these requirements and is being used as a biopesticide in agriculture, forestry, and mosquito control. In spite, biopesticides have many advantages as green pesticides and their use has had a slow growth, mainly because the farmers are less confident in selecting biopesticides over the synthetics. However, the global biopesticide market is substantially growing every year. The regulations about the pesticides have many concerns which do not apply to biopesticides, and these issues have been made difficult to introduce them to the market.