Pesticidal Plants of Northeast India

To increase the demand of global food security, the economy of the agricultural sector must achieve a sustainable level, to supply an adequate amount to feed the increasing population. Insects and other pests have detrimental impacts to the world of food production during growth of crop, harvest and storage. To minimise losses, farmers sell their grain soon after harvest for which they get less market value. Plants with pesticidal properties are already used by farmers as a mean of reducing the damage by insect pests of agriculture and more specifically on stored commodities since time immemorial. However, it has assumed greater importance in recent years due to the detrimental health and environmental hazards caused by synthetic pesticides. Pesticidal plants are target specific and biodegradable with less toxicity. Use of pesticidal plants reduces the liability of using synthetic pesticides. Pesticidal plants are safer and flexible in their usage than synthetic pesticides, and moreover they are easily grown in their local environment. The rich bioactive compounds present in these plants are utilised to control the insect and pest population. In the present study, a detailed discussion has been made on the pesticidal plants, found in Northeast India, which seems to be an alternative to the synthetic pesticides.