The level of increase in external input is evident from the fact that against a consumption of 3.05 Lakh MT of NPK during 1959-60, the consumption increased to 25.95 Million Tons during 2016-17. Similarly India used 2353 MT of pesticides during 1955-56, which increased to 52980 MT during 2011-12. It is worth to mention here that due to increase in use of external input, not only the cost of production has gone high but also it has generated some adverse impact on soil, plant and animal health. Moreover, the present level of production is almost stagnated for last 5-6 years. Among the pest control chemicals, insecticides dominate the industry with 65% of consumption, followed by herbicides (16%), fungicides (15%) and others 4%. Cotton and paddy are the major crops where pesticides consumption is 50% and 18% respectively.Despite use of insecticides/pesticides, insect pests on an average cost 25 to 30 percent yield loss in vegetables. Readmore…