(HEADING=) WAT IS INSECTICIDES AND PESTICIDES ? An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects.

They include ovicides and la rvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind the in crease in agricultural productivity in the 20th century. Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; m any are toxic to humans; and others are concentrated in the food chain (FURTHER U HAV 2 WRITE ITS TYPES & GIVE ANOTHER HEADING FOR IT i.e) Classes of a gricultural insecticides The classification of insecticides is done in several different ways:[citation n eeded] ---Systemic insecticides are incorporated by treated plants. Insects ingest the insecticide while feeding on the plants. ---Contact insecticides are toxic to insects brought into direct contact. Effica cy is often related to the quality of pesticide application, with small droplets (such as aerosols) often improving performance.[2] ---Natural insecticides, such as nicotine, pyrethrum and neem extracts are made by plants as defenses against insects. Nicotine based insecticides have been barred in the U.S. since 2001 to prevent r esidues from contaminating foods.[3] ---Plant-Incorporated Protectants (PIP) are insecticidal substances produced by plants after genetic modification. For instance, a gene that codes for a specific Baccilus thuringiensis biocidal p rotein is introduced into a crop plant's genetic material. Then, the plant manufactures the protein. Since the biocide is incorporated into the plant, additional applications at least of the same compound, are not requi red. ---Inorganic insecticides are manufactured with metals and include arsenates, co pper compounds and fluorine compounds, which are now seldom used, and sulfur, which is commonly used. ---Organic insecticides are synthetic chemicals which comprise the largest numbe rs of pesticides available for use today. ---Mode of action how the pesticide kills or inactivates a pest is another way of cl assifying insecticides. Mode of action is important in predicting whether an insecticide will be toxic to unrelated species, such as fish, birds and mammals. (further u hav to write another topic imp. classification of certain insecticis. and info.) ---Organochlorine compounds: The insecticidal properties of the best known representative of this class of insecticides, DDT, was made by the Swiss Scientist Paul Mller. For this discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1948.[4] DDT was introduced on the market in 1944. With the rise of the modern chemical industry, it was possible to make chlori nated hydrocarbons. DDT works by opening the sodium channels in the nerve cells of the insect ---Organophosphates The next large class developed was the organophosphates, which bind to acetylc holinesterase and other cholinesterases. This results in disruption of nerve impulses, killing the insect or interferin g with its ability to carry on normal functions. Organophosphate insecticides and chemical warfare nerve agents (such as sarin, tabun, soman and VX) work in the same way. Organophosphates have an accumulative toxic effect to wildlife, so multiple ex posures to the chemicals amplifies the toxicity ---Carbamates Carbamate insecticides have similar toxic mechanisms to organophosphates, but

have a much shorter duration of action and are thus somewhat less toxic ---Pyrethroids To mimic the insecticidal activity of the natural compound pyrethrum another class of pesticides, pyrethroid pesticides, has been developed. These are nonpersistent, which is a sodium channel modulators, and are much l ess acutely toxic than organophosphates and carbamates. Compounds in this group are often applied against household pests ----Neonicotinoids Neonicotinoids are synthetic analogues of the natural insecticide nicotine ( with a much lower acute mammalian toxicity and greater field persistence). These chemicals are nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists. Broad-spectru m systemic insecticides, they have a rapid action (minutes-hours). They are applied as sprays, drenches, seed and soil treatments often as substi tutes for organophosphates and carbamates. Treated insects exhibit leg tremors, rapid wing motion, stylet withdrawal (a phids), disoriented movement, paralysis and death ---Biological insecticides Recent efforts to reduce broad spectrum toxins added to the environment have brought biological insecticides back into vogue. An example is the development and increase in use of Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterial disease of Lepidopterans and some other insects. Toxins produced by different strains of this bacterium are used as a larvicide against caterpillars, beetles, and mosquitoes. Because it has little effect on other organisms, it is considered more environ mentally friendly than synthetic pesticides. The toxin from B. thuringiensis (Bt toxin) has been incorporated directly into plants through the use of genetic engineering. Other biological insecticides include products based on entomopathogenic fungi (e.g. Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae), nematodes (e.g. Steinernema feltiae) and viruses (e.g. Cydia pomonella granulovirus) ---Antifeedants Many plants have evolved substances, like polygodial, which prevent insects fr om eating, but do not kill them directly. The insect often remains nearby, where it dies of starvation. Since antifeedant s are nontoxic, they would be ideal as insecticides in agriculture. Much agrochemical research is devoted to make them cheap enough for commercial use