1. Features

  1.1 No pollution and no accumulation.

The active ingredients of this kind of pesticides generally have biological activity, and can be quickly inactivated or decomposed by natural microorganisms after use. For example, the insecticide " ROTENONE ", after being sprayed with an ultra-high dose, no toxic components can be detected in the soil after 5 days, and the toxic residue on vegetables are also minimal, which is 0.1% to 0.2% of the allowable residues specified in the Guidelines for the Rational Use of Pesticides. It will not remain and accumulate on agricultural products, so it will not cause damage to human living space and health, and will not cause pollution to the ecological environment.

 1.2 Easy to obtain materials and low cost.

China is rich in plant resources. Wild plant pesticides resources that can be developed and utilized from local materials are easy to collect and low in cost. They can also be formed into commodities and have a wide range of utilization values.

 1.3 Convenient operation and safety.

Some simple methods can be used to extract biological pesticides. When used in large quantities, special equipment and factories are not required in some places. It is also very convenient for storage, application and transportation. It is one of the pesticide varieties with high safety coefficient.

 1.4 No resistance to pesticides.

Biological pesticides are extracted from plants, and the active ingredients are complex and diverse, especially when the compound formulation of more than two kinds of plants is used, the ingredients are even more diverse. This makes the pests unable to develop resistance to one or several of the ingredients, and thus receive better control effects.

 1.5 Less harmful to natural enemies of pests.

Compared with chemical pesticides, the effective ingredients of biological pesticides exist in the pests for a short time, and are quickly decomposed or inactivated. They cannot accumulate in the pests, so they will not harm the natural enemies of pests and other beneficial insects，and do not destroy the ecological balance. Experiment show that when the usual dosage of " ROTENONE " was used, the killing rate of the Lipaphis erysimi reached 99.85%, while the killing rate of ladybirds(the natural enemy of aphids) was only 11.58%; the chemical insecticide Dimethoate EC was used as the control group,the killing rate of the above two kinds of insects was 71.58% and 28.54% respectively.

2. Registration situation of botanical pesticides in China

In 2017, the new Pesticides Registration Information Requirements was released, which raised the registration threshold and made the registration and management of botanical pesticides more scientific and standardized.

By of the end of 2019, Chinese botanical pesticides within the valid period of registration include Matrine, Rotenone, Azadirachtin, Veratrine, Pyrethrin, Nicotine, Celastrus Angulatus, Eucalyptol, Camphor, D-camphor, Star anise oil, Neochamaejasmin, Triptolide, Curcumol, Cnidiadin, Eugenol, Physcion, Carvacrol, Berberine,β-sitosterol, Tea saponin, TDS, Sophora alopecuroides alkaloid , Allicin, D-limonene, Terpene alcohol, Allyl isothiocyanate, Ginkgo seed extract, Psoralen seed extract (isobavachalcone), a total of 28 kinds, there are 247 single agent, 36 mixed agent, 41 technical concentrates or original drugs and 177 enterprises register.

The single agents of botanical pesticides registered in China mainly focus on Matrine, Pyrethrin, Azadirachtin, Osthol, Rotenone and Camphor. There are more than 15 enterprises register related to each of the above varieties, among which there are as many as 94 enterprises register related to Matrine, accounting for 53% of all enterprises register of botanical pesticides. The number of single-agent registrations of Matrine accounts for 45% of the number of single-agent registrations of agricultural botanical pesticides.

In addition to the above six major varieties, there are 5-10 enterprises register for Eugenol, Berberine,Veratrine, Palmatine, Carvacrol and traditional nicotine.

There are 1 to 2 enterprises that have registered for the remaining varieties, most of which are unique and highly targeted. For example, Curcumol and Triptolide are relatively successful botanical Rodenticides; Steroid enol is mainly used to control viral diseases; Allicin can control bacterial diseases and so on.

According to statistics from relevant departments, the annual output of botanical pesticides in China exceeded 1,000 tons in 2012,including Matrine (5858t), Azadirachtin (1554t) and Neochamaejasmin (1170t); Triptolide (600t) and Pyrethrin ( 376t), Star anise oil (354.5t), Rotenone (287t), Cnidiadin (271t), Eugenol (225t) and Camphor (200t) also reached more than 200t. The investigation showed that there were only 14 botanical pesticide varieties in production status, and many varieties that were still in the registered status were not produced.

Although a variety of plant resources with developmental value were selected in the early stage, due to the limitation of plant natural resources, as well as the impact of the current national economy and the level of user awareness, there are still few commercialized botanical pesticides. There are many varieties that have successfully entered the registration and application stage, such as Divasid, Capsaicin, Toosendanin, Stemonine, Scopolamine, Aconitine, Strychnine, etc. ,which have not been renewed after the expiration of registration due to various reasons such as markets.

OASIS AGROSCIENCE LTD has been working on introducing good botanical pesticides to meet the challenges from the agriculture production. Please contact us for more details information.

References

ZHANG Zhengwei, XI Houcheng, CHANG Wencheng, HUANG Lulu ,CHEN Xiu. Cerrent Situation of Commercialized Application of Plant-Derived Pesticides in China and Suggestions for Industrial Development[J]. World Pesticides,Vol.42 No.12 Dec.2020:8-11.