Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

R&D Priorities for Biopesticide and Biofertilizer Products in India
MARKETING CONSTRAINTS AND STRATEGIES
There is a large market potential for biofertilizer and biopesticide products that can only be
tapped through a better understanding of rural markets and product/marketing constraints.
Various stakeholders—farmers, government, manufacturers, marketers, and everyone concerned
with agricultural productivity—must coordinate their efforts in order to succeed. The quality
aspect must be regulated by the government, the manufacturer must identify and develop location-specific
strains and improve packaging and logistics, and the marketer must be active in
formulating suitable strategies using marketing techniques.
CONCLUSIONS
Successful adoption of biofertilizers and biopesticides, as with any other agro-input, will
be based on convincing evidence of efficacy in controlling damage to crops by pests and
diseases with a resultant increase in yields coupled with timely availability of desired quantities
of high-quality products with an acceptable shelf life at affordable prices. To achieve these
objectives, an extensive research and development effort in areas pertaining to production, quality
assurance, field application, and knowledge transmission of biocontrol products is of great
importance.
Basic R&D priorities for biopesticides include enhanced efficacy of the strains, enhanced
tolerance to environmental stresses, enhanced efficacy of the formulations, packaging development,
improved/new application technologies, trust-building demonstrations, and nodal quality
control laboratories. Biological strains should have improved efficacy, improved spectrum of
activity, improved productivity, and multiple modes of action. Cost reduction through use of inexpensive
local raw materials is essential. Tolerance to high temperatures and varying pH would
give added advantages. The formulation adjuvant needs to be selected carefully by considering
the biology of the pests, microbes, and crops involved and should not interfere with the action of
biocontrol agents. UV protectants, stabilizers, antioxidants, and efficacy enhancers deserve
attention.
Application technologies must be refined to target applications at appropriate sites and to
minimize environmental pollution. Well-planned and well-executed field demonstrations with
follow-ups should enhance the satisfaction of end-user farmers. Nodal quality control laboratories
with proper infrastructure, reference standards and standard test organisms, and human resources
need to be established, and state pesticide testing laboratories need to be upgraded.
Biopesticides and biofertilizers will be successfully adopted only when convincing evidence
is available that the microbes used provide efficient protection from pests and diseases and
sufficiently supplement the nutritional requirements (nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, etc.) of plants.
Products should be of high quality with the desired number of propagules present and an acceptable
shelf life. Efforts are underway to select low-cost carrier materials that will support the
population of desired organisms for a sufficient period. Despite the phenomenal growth in the
availability of biopesticide and biofertilizer products during the past few years, their adoption by
farmers has not been encouraging, primarily because they do not offer any practical advantage
over conventional chemicals and there is a lack of high-quality products, mainly due to the
absence of a proper infrastructure and adequate technical expertise. Research efforts therefore
should be directed towards development of efficient strains with the right host compatibility,
better competitive abilities, and improved tolerance to abiotic stresses. Strains with multifarious
activities or consortia of efficient strains with multiple activities like N fixation, phosphate solubilization,
and/or biocontrol properties would be the appropriate choice. Such strains, if mass
cultured in low-cost formulation and supporting sufficient populations of microbes for longer
periods (shelf life), would give added advantage to these biotechnological products. Well
planned and well-executed demonstrations with the proper application technology would enhance
adoption by end users.
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