NANOTECHNOLOGY FOR INSECT PEST CONTROL

Nanotechnology is a promising field of interdisciplinary research. It opens up a wide array of opportunities in various fields like insecticides, pharmaceuticals, electronics and agriculture. The potential uses and benefits of nanotechnology are enormous. These include management of insect pests through the formulations of nanomaterials-based insecticides. Traditional strategies like integrated pest management used in agriculture are insufficient, and application of chemical pesticides have adverse effects on animals and human beings apart from the decline in soil fertility. Therefore, nanotechnology would provide green and efficient alternatives for the management of insect pests in agriculture without harming the nature. This art is focused on traditional strategies used for the management of insect pests and potential of nanomaterials in insect pest control as modern approaches of nanotechnology. The advances in science and technology in the last decades were made in several areas of insecticide usage. It includes either development of more effective and non-persistent pesticides and new ways of application, which includes controlled release formulation (CRF). The endeavors are direct towards the successful application of those compounds on crops and their efficacy and availability improvement and reduction of environmental contamination and workers exposure (Savary et al., 2006). In that line, new types of formulation were developed. One of the most promising is the use of micro and nanotechnology to promote a more efficient assembly of the active compound in a matrix in order to protect core materials from adverse reactions due to factors like air or light. An outcry is exhibited against the use of pesticides due to their hazardous effects on human as well as environment (Sparks et al., 2012). There is a great concern regarding the nonmaterial which have potential to exert hazardous effects on human and the environment and when we have a nano-pesticide, it becomes a double edged weapon. Nanomaterials need to be evaluated, so that this novel technology does not meet the same apprehensions and bottle-neck as faced by genetically