Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others. The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all pesticide use globally. Most pesticides are used as plant protection products, which in general protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Along with these benefits, pesticides also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species.
Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, industrial buildings, for vector control, and control of insect parasites of animals and humans.
Sodium nitrite is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula NaNO2. It is a white to slightly yellowish crystalline powder that is very soluble in water and is hygroscopic. From an industrial perspective, it is the most important nitrite salt. It is a precursor to a variety of organic compounds, such as pharmaceuticals, dyes, and pesticides, but it is probably best known as a food additive used in processed meats and in fish products.
Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide. It is widely used against ant infestations.
A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums. Pyrethroids are used as commercial and household insecticides.
Fenvalerate is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide. It is a mixture of four optical isomers which have different insecticidal activities. The 2-S alpha configuration, known as esfenvalerate, is the most insecticidally active isomer. Fenvalerate consists of about 23% of this isomer.
An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of agricultural chemical, is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical typically refers to biocides alongside synthetic fertilizers. It may also include hormones and other chemical growth agents. Though the application of mineral fertilizers and pesticidal chemicals has a long history, the majority of agricultural chemicals were developed from the 19th century, and their use were expanded significantly during the Green Revolution and the late 20th century. Agriculture that uses these chemicals is frequently called conventional agriculture.
Syngenta Global AG is a global agricultural technology company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It primarily covers crop protection and seeds for farmers. Syngenta is part of the Syngenta Group, entirely owned by Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
Azinphos-methyl (Guthion) is a broad spectrum organophosphate insecticide manufactured by Bayer CropScience, Gowan Co., and Makhteshim Agan. Like other pesticides in this class, it owes its insecticidal properties to the fact that it is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. It is classified as an extremely hazardous substance in the United States as defined in Section 302 of the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and is subject to strict reporting requirements by facilities which produce, store, or use it in significant quantities.
Acibenzolar-S-methyl is the ISO common name for an organic compound that is used as a fungicide. Unusually, it is not directly toxic to fungi but works by inducing systemic acquired resistance, the natural defence system of plants.
Azoxystrobin is a broad spectrum systemic fungicide widely used in agriculture to protect crops from fungal diseases. It was first marketed in 1996 using the brand name Amistar and by 1999 it had been registered in 48 countries on more than 50 crops. In the year 2000 it was announced that it had been granted UK Millennium product status.
Cyhalothrin is an organic compound that, in specific isomeric forms, is used as a pesticide. It is a pyrethroid, a class of synthetic insecticides that mimic the structure and properties of the naturally occurring insecticide pyrethrin which is present in the flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium. Pyrethroids, such as cyhalothrin, are often preferred as an active ingredient in agricultural insecticides because they are more cost-effective and longer acting than natural pyrethrins. λ-and γ-cyhalothrin are now used to control insects and spider mites in crops including cotton, cereals, potatoes and vegetables.
Methomyl is a carbamate insecticide introduced in 1966. It is highly toxic to humans, livestock, pets, and wildlife. The EU imposed a pesticide residue limit of 0,01 mg/kg for all fruit and vegetables.
Phoxim is an organophosphate insecticide that is produced by the Bayer corporation. It is an analogous dimethyl ester and an organothiophosphate acaricide. It is allowed for use in limited applications in the European Union. It is banned for use on crops in the European Union since 22 December 2007.
Helicoverpa assulta, the oriental tobacco budworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. H. assulta adults are migratory and are found all over the Old World Tropics including Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Thiamethoxam is the ISO common name for a mixture of cis-trans isomers used as a systemic insecticide of the neonicotinoid class. It has a broad spectrum of activity against many types of insects and can be used as a seed dressing.
Tefluthrin is the ISO common name for an organic compound that is used as a pesticide. It is a pyrethroid, a class of synthetic insecticides that mimic the structure and properties of the naturally occurring insecticide pyrethrin which is present in the flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium. Pyrethroids such as tefluthrin are often preferred as active ingredients in agricultural insecticides because they are more cost-effective and longer acting than natural pyrethrins. It is effective against soil pests because it can move as a vapour without irreversibly binding to soil particles: in this respect it differs from most other pyrethroids.
Diamide insecticides are a class of insecticides, active mainly against lepidoptera (caterpillars), which act on the insect ryanodine receptor. They are diamides of either phthalic acid or anthranilic acid, with various appropriate further substitutions.
Sulfoxaflor, also marketed as Isoclast, is a systemic insecticide that acts as an insect neurotoxin. A pyridine and a trifluoromethyl compound, it is a member of a class of chemicals called sulfoximines, which act on the central nervous system of insects.
Cyproconazole is an agricultural fungicide of the class of azoles, used on cereal crops, coffee, sugar beet, fruit trees and grapes, and peanuts, on sod farms and golf course turf and on wood as a preservative. It has been used against powdery mildew, rust on cereals and apple scab, and applied by air or on the ground or by chemigation.
