CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources 2011 6, No. 056 Review Microbial biopesticides: opportunities and challenges Opender Koul* Address: Insect Biopesticide Research Centre, 30- Parkash Nagar, Jalandhar 144003, India. *Correspondence: Email: okoul©airtelmail.in; okoul©koulresearch.org Received: Accepted: 10 October 2011 17 November 2011 doi: 10.1079/PAVSNNR20116056 The electronic version of this article is the definitive one. It is located here: http://www.cabi.org/cabreviews © CAB International 2011 (Online ISSN 1749-8848) Abstract Pesticides based on microorganisms and their products have proven to be highly effective, species specific and eco-friendly in nature, leading to their adoption in pest management strategies around the world. The microbial biopesticide market constitutes about 90% of total biopesticides and there is ample scope for further development in agriculture and public health, although there are challenges as well. This article reviews the various microbial biopesticides that are commercially available, the different approaches for their production and development, the recent technological advances and the challenges faced by the microbial biopesticide field in the future. Keywords: Microbials, Bacteria, Viruses, Fungi, Nematodes, Biopesticides, Pest management, Commercialization Introduction The damage and destruction inflicted on crops by pests have had a serious impact on farming and agricultural practices for a long time. These pests include insects, fungi, weeds, viruses, nematodes, animals and birds. It has been estimated that nearly 10 000 species of insects, 50 000 species of fungi, 1800 species of weeds and 15 000 species of nematodes destroy food and fibre crops used by millions of people worldwide. In India alone, 30% of the crop yield potential is lost as a result of insects, disease and weeds, corresponding to 30 million tons of food grain. In an attempt to avoid such losses, the primary strategy employed has been to eliminate the pests by using chemical pesticides such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphates and carbamates. However, despite the successes achieved, potential hazards or risks have emerged that have had a substantial impact on the environment; compounded further by indiscriminate and excessive use of the products. Consequently, beneficial species have been lost and residual problems have increased, with subsequent impact on the food chain, groundwater contamination and resistance in pests. To overcome the hazards associated with chemical pesti- cides, the use of biopesticides (pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, microorganisms and certain minerals) is increasingly being adopted. North America uses the largest percentage of the biopesticide market share at 44%, followed by the EU and Oceania with 20% each, South and Latin American countries with 10% and about 6% in India and other Asian countries [1, 2]. In terms of sales of biopesticides, the global market in 2007 was US$672 million and projected as US$1000 million for 2010 (Figure 1). The current growth of the chemical pesticide market is about 1-2% per year, while growth in microbial pest control is about 10% per year (with some estimates projecting growth as high as 20%) [3]. As of 2007/08, estimates of microbial biopesticide sales were US$396 million at the end-user level, although these estimates are likely to be just a fraction of the total usage of such products, owing to the lack of information available on the non-commercial use of such products in these regions. Such estimates could be more unreliable globally, given unquantified sales in other parts of the world. A recent survey has shown that Europe is a large, intense and diverse pesticide market valued at $12850 million in 2008; approximately 31.7% of the world's total. The six largest national agrochemical markets are in France, Italy, Spain, UK, Germany and Turkey. France alone accounts for 26.2% of agrochemical sales of the wider Europe, with Italy taking 19.8%. The Nordic coun- tries, on the other hand, consume comparatively small http://www.cabi.org/cabreviews