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Sri Lanka is a tropical country equally having rich diversity of arthropods including natural enemies, economic pests, and indigenous plants majority with unique chemical properties. Because of the substantial losses due to pests and diseases, plant protection remains an essential issue in agriculture production in the country. There is increasing concern over synthetic pesticide usage due to their adverse long-term effects on human health, environment, and natural pest management systems. As an eco-friendly alternate, the importance of biopesticides in raising agricultural productivity is well recognized in Sri Lanka. Biopesticides are quiet popular among farming community due to their unique features, viz., safety, limited host range or target specifi city, the absence of toxic residues, eco- friendly nature, and ease of application. Biopesticides have diverse modes of action and hence resistance development in pests is slower/negligible. Currently, plant powders, nonvolatile and volatile oils, and plant crude extracts are commercially available for management of insect pests and nematodes. Further, several bacterial and fungal biopesticides have shown promising results for the effi cient management of plant pathogens in Sri Lanka. |
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