Bioherbicides are

herbicides Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

consisting of

phytotoxin Phytotoxins are substances that are poisonous or toxic to the growth of plants. Phytotoxic substances may result from human activity, as with herbicides, or they may be produced by plants, by microorganisms, or by naturally occurring chemical react ...

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

s, and other

microbes A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

used as biological

weed control Weed control is a type of pest control, which attempts to stop or reduce growth of weeds, especially noxious weeds, with the aim of reducing their competition with desired flora and fauna including domesticated plants and livestock, and in natur ...

. Bioherbicides may be compounds and secondary metabolites derived from microbes such as fungi,

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

; or

phytotoxic Phytotoxins are substances that are poisonous or toxic to the growth of plants. Phytotoxic substances may result from human activity, as with herbicides, or they may be produced by plants, by microorganisms, or by naturally occurring chemical react ...

plant residues, extracts or single compounds derived from other plant species.

Production

The production of bioherbicides is a process of biosynthesis where different mediums ranging from

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

bran to

corn steep liquor Corn steep liquor is a by-product of corn wet-milling. A viscous concentrate of corn solubles which contains amino acids, vitamins and minerals, it is an important constituent of some growth media. It was used in the culturing of ''Penicillium'' du ...

are fermented to obtain desirable results. In addition to solid-state

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

, bioherbicides can also be produced by submerged fermentation in stirred tanks or in other environments. Despite the ‘eco-friendliness’, there are several obstructions that make it less practical to use bioherbicides in fields because the lab results may not be the same as the real results.

Current status

With increasing awareness of the effects of the chemical herbicides and pesticides, bioherbicides can be adopted as an alternative especially for integrated weed management. The market share of bioherbicides is merely 10% of all biopesticides. On the other hand, the research spanning over two decades since 1980s has also falsified the principle that there is a coevolved natural enemy of a host weed which can manage weed through varied formulation and thus advocated for more research to culturally and genetically intensify the bioherbicidal organisms. Efficiency and efficacy of bioherbicides is impeded by changing weather and temperature and this can further obstruct the application and integration of bioherbicides. A study shows that covering with

jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ''Corchorus olit ...

turf, which retains moistures and allows one third of the sunlight to pass through, can increase the efficiency of bioherbicides and also remove some of the hindrances from the commercialization and marketing of bioherbicides. While it is true that after their 'discovery' the bioherbicides are not readily available on the market for various reasons, advocates of bioherbicides argue that bioherbicide researchers should collaborate with other researchers and seek more public sector funding so that bioherbicides can become more marketable and attain more market share. Simultaneously, research from Canada indicates that legislative and policy dynamics have great power to accelerate the innovation and integration of bioherbicides other microbial pest-control products.

Available bioherbicides

While 13 different products have been launched, currently only 9 bioherbicides are available for sale/purchase in market globally: # Devine (1981) # Collego (1982) # BioMal (1992) # Woad Warrior (2002) # Chontrol (2005) # Smoulder (2005) # Sarritor (2007) # Organo-Sol (2010) # Beloukha (2015)

References

{{pesticides Biopesticides