Use of plant extracts for tea pest management in India.

Use of plant extracts for tea pest management in India. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2016 Apr 22; Authors: Roy S, Handique G, Muraleedharan N, Dashora K, Roy SM, Mukhopadhyay A, Babu A Abstract India is the second largest producer of black tea in the world. The biggest challenge for tea growers of India nowadays is to combat pests and diseases. Tea crop in India is infested by not less than 720 insect and mite species. At least four sucking pests and six chewing pests have well established themselves as regular pests causing substantial damage to this foliage crop. Various synthetic pesticides are widely used for the management of tea pests in India. Applications of such large quantity of pesticides could cause various problems such as development of resistance, deleterious effects on non-target organisms such as insect predators and parasitoids, upsetting the ecological balance, and accumulation of pesticide residues on tea leaves. There is a growing demand for organic tea or at least pesticide residue free tea in the international market which affects the export price. There is also a higher emphasis of implementation of new regulations on internationally traded foods and implementation of Plant Protection Code (PPC) for tea by the Government of India. This necessitates a relook into the usage pattern of synthetic pesticides on this crop. There are various non-chemical interventions which are being worked out for their sustainability...
Source: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Microbiol Biotechnol Source Type: research