Today the world is facing an acute shortage of food. It is one of the most complex and controversial issues in the world today that concerns human population. The number of people living off the earth’s resources and stressing its ecosystem has more than doubled in just fifty years. In 1960 there were 3 billion of us while today there are 7 billion.

Statistics show that more than 860 million people in the world are suffering from chronic hunger. The vast majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9 percent of the population is undernourished.

Emerging superpower like India is home to the largest number of hungry people. The National Family and Health Survey (NFHS), last carried out in 2004-05, had shown that 23% of married men, 52% of married women and 72% of infants were anemic and were caught in a downward spiral of slow starvation. Thus food scarcity is undoubtedly a dire issue to be addressed immediately.

Apart from unpredictable rains, droughts, natural disasters, insects are major contributors in lowering the agricultural yield every year. According to Food and agricultural Organization of United States, herbivorous insects are said to be responsible for destroying one fifth of the world’s total crop production annually.

Insects are the most diverse species of organisms living on earth. They can be found in jungles, swamps, deserts and even in highly harsh environments such as pool of crude petroleum. Insects are undoubtedly the most adaptable form of life as their total numbers far exceed that of any other animal category. Insect pests inflict damage on humans, farm animals and crops. The damages can be categorized into two types

• Pre-harvest damage
• Post-harvest damage

Pre-harvest damage: Due to lack of effective crop protection measures, the crop loss in pre harvest stages is substantial and is affecting the economy adversely. The loss due to insects and diseases is estimated to be around 20 percent. The major pests like stem borer and leaf folder in paddy, boll worm, white fly, red hairy caterpillar, leaf miner and prodenia in groundnut, pod borer in pulses cause several damages in the farm. The extent of crop loss either physical or financial depends on stages of crop growth, pests, and weather conditions.

The worldwide crop loss due to various types of pests was estimated at 37.4 percent in rice, 28.2 percent in wheat, 31.2 percent in maize and 26.3 percent in soybean. In India, crop loss estimate due to insect pests has been provided by Dhaliwal et al. (2010). According to their study, crop loss was estimated at 25 percent in rice and maize, 5 percent in wheat, 15 percent in pulses and 50 percent in cotton in India.

Post-harvest damages: Crop products are eventually stored for varied periods of time depending on market demand, size of production and the farmer’s needs. Storage is the most critical postharvest operation. Deterioration of the grain quality during storage can be due to improper storing conditions, which leads to contamination with fungi or insect infestation.

In addition to direct consumption of the product, insect pests contaminate their feeding media through excretion, dead bodies and their own existence in the product, which is not commercially desirable. There are two major groups of insects that damage the stored products

• Coleoptera (beetles)
• Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies)

Coleoptera: The order Coleoptera is the largest order of insects. They are either primary or secondary pests i.e. they either directly feed on the stored products or act as predators of other insects. Larger grain borer, seed beetles, maize weevil, rice weevil are some of the well-known coleoptera

Lepidoptera: Lepidoptera is the second most important order of insects. Lepidoptera larvae occur frequently in a wide range of habitats and are known for their silk-spinning activities that result in the additional loss of quality of stored products. Some species attack the product in both the field and store. Some common lepidoptera include grain moth, pyralidae and mites.

Major wet season maize post harvest losses in the Middle belt of Ghana

Let us have a look at some incidents where insect pests lead to immense damage partnered with economic losses:

• An attack of whitefly on cotton crops in North India has taken an ugly shape. Yields have dropped sharply, sparking farmer suicides. The state government of Haryana has decided to release an aid of Rs. 500 crore for Haryana cotton farmers as a compensation for the loss.

-March 28th 2015, DNA, India

Also in Vilavancode taluk of Kanyakumari, stem boarer, a common pest, is of huge concern for the farmers as well as the officials of the horticulture department as these areas had once been totally free from the pest. These insects are proving to be a nightmare for banana farmers.

-September 8th 2013, The Hindu, India

• Mediterranean fruit fly infestation has destroyed Gascoyne chilli crop in Australia. This particular infestation was found after nearby medfly traps recorded more than 500 insects per week.

-By Lucie Bell, ABC Rural, 15 Sep 2015, Australia

• Red spider mites are posing a great threat to coffee plantation by clinging to the leaves and gradually turning them reddish. A Columbian farmer named Jairo Morales is extremely worried, as his plantation is dappled with crimson by these tiny spider mites.

-September 6th 2012, Chicago Tribune, Columbia

• Also it has been reported that the Asian stink bugs are causing millions of dollars of losses, mainly to the apple industry. About 18 % of crop in Atlanta is ruined by these insects.

-May 21st 2011, Mail online, USA

All the above mentioned statistics and incidents are enough for us to realize the magnitude of harm that is caused by the insect pests in agricultural sector and understand the urgent need for a sustainable solution.

Termirepel™ anti insect additive, a C Tech Corporation product is the best solution for the prevention and control of insect infestations. Termirepel™ masterbatch can be incorporated in agricultural films, mulches, etc. during polymer processing. It can also be incorporated in silage bags and packaging films to protect the crops in post harvest stage from pest damage.

Termirepel™ lacquer can be added to paints which can then be applied to fencing, garbage cans etc. It follows 6 tiered mechanism, which is extremely effective on insects like ants, beetles, grasshopper, termites etc. Termirepel™ is a non toxic and non hazardous anti insect additive. It is thermally stable and does not degrade on exposure to heat and sunlight. It does not kill or harm the insect but repels them. It does not volatilize and does not degrade the soil. It is RoHS, RoHS2, REACH compliant and FIFRA exempted.