ABSTRACT
The use of botanicals in integrated pest management (I.P.M.) strategies must have a carefully evaluated place as a control measure. The development of more potent standardized extracts could serve as a safer and cheapest alternative to synthetic insecticides in traditional farming systems. Further studies should be focused mainly to overcome some major obstacles limiting the use of these botanicals such as the identification of their active components; suitable application techniques/dosage levels; serious field trials and commercialization of virtually all the botanicals that have been done for Azadirachta indica (neem tree) in the U.S.A where it has been commercialized and registered as “Margosan O” and “Azatin E.C.” Botanicals, therefore, provide a viable sustainable environment-friendly approach to pest and disease control. They are biodegradable, relatively non-toxic to humans and maybe devoid of problems of resistance because the bioactive components are not just made up of a single ingredient, but an array of secondary metabolites produced by plants.
