The per hectare consumption of pesticides by country is highest for China, followed by the UK, with the least in India. The FAO also reported that from 2015 to 2018, the share of global pesticide consumption was 52.2% in Asia, 32.4% in the USA, 11.8% in Europe, 2% in Africa, and 1.6% in Oceania. According to an annual report by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, India (MoCF) (2019вЂ“2020), the production or manufacture of chemical pesticides increased from 186,000 metric tons (MT) in 2014вЂ“2015 to 217,000 MT in 2018вЂ“2019. The pesticides utilised for crops are as follows: fibre crops account for around 67%, fruits 50%, vegetables 46%, spices 43%, oilseeds 28%, and pulses 23%. In addition, pesticide consumption in India drastically increased from 50,410 tonnes (T) in 2016 to 58,160 T in 2018. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations (2017вЂ“2018), the top three leading pesticide-consuming countries are China, the USA, and Brazil. Nutrient reduction and an increased disease incidence are quite common in crops grown on soils heavily subjected to chemical pesticides, and this is undesirable from the agricultural soil management for food and nutritional security standpoint.

Based on a report by Business Communications Company (BCC), Inc., research on the global biopesticide and synthetic pesticide market showed that it was worth USD 61.2 billion in 2017 and is expected to rise to approximately USD 79.3 billion by 2022.

Furthermore, based on their potential application and strong inhibitory activity against pests, these synthetic pesticides dominate the market and have a significant impact on the manufacture of products. They are known to cause cancers and foetal impairments and they persist in the environment for many years (i.e., they are nonbiodegradable). The chemical pesticides used in crop protection, to reduce the damage caused by pathogens and pests in agricultural fields, pose many long-term threats and risks to living beings due to their harmful side effects. Biopesticides, which are pest management agents based on living microorganisms or natural products, offer a great promise in controlling yield loss without compromising the quality of the product. Abiotic stress can be largely controlled by the use of biostimulants and bioeffectors.

Enhanced agricultural productivity can be achieved in many ways, such as through increasing crop yield by providing manure and organic-based treatments, including biopesticides, or by limiting yield loss due to extreme environmental conditions (such as biotic and abiotic stresses). In order to overcome these challenges and meet the requirements for food and supplies, the productivity and sustainability of agricultural practices should be improved and novel and improved strategies must be found.

Anthropogenic activities have affected peopleвЂ™s surroundings and have also had negative impacts on the environment and ecosystems, including reductions in agricultural areas due to construction, the explosion of nutrient mining, degradation, and contamination of water resources (resulting in scarcity), aggregation of xenobiotics in the soils, and degeneration and deterioration of the quality, fertility, and efficiency of soil, with implications of soil erosion and climate change. This has imposed a large burden on agriculture and its allied sectors in terms of meeting food demands, which requires more inputs for crop production. The global population is exploding at an exponential rate and is anticipated to reach approximately 9.7 billion by 2050, the largest share of which is in Africa and Asia.

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