Bioherbicide

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A bioherbicide is a biologically-based control agent for weeds. Among the three major types of pesticides (agricultural pest-control agents) herbicides are used to control weeds, or undesirable plants. (The other major classes of pesticides are insecticides, which control insects; and fungicides, which control fungi. Normally, any pesticide can only be expected to control, but not eradicate, agricultural pests.) Almost every agricultural pest has at least one naturally-occurring enemy that will reduce its population. Bioherbicides are weed-control agents that utilize such naturally-occurring enemies, rather than depending on man-made chemicals. This can be important because agents of biological control ordinarily have many fewer, and much milder, effects on the environment than do synthetic chemicals. What is more, they tend not to lead to the public health problems that chemicals are associated with. These two advantages of biological control agents, including bioherbicides, do not however mean that they need not also be subjected to careful tests for environmental and public health safety. Bioherbicides may be compounds derived from microbes such as fungi, bacteria or protozoa; or phytotoxic plant residues, extracts or single compounds derived from other plant species. A bioherbicide based on a fungus is called a mycoherbicide. In the industry, bioherbicides and other biopesticides are often referred to as "naturals".

Herbicide
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Weeds killed with herbicide

A herbicide, commonly known as a weedkiller, is a type of pesticide used to kill unwanted plants.[1] Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant hormones. Herbicides used to clear waste ground, industrial sites, railways and railway embankments are non-selective and kill all plant material with which they come into contact. Smaller quantities are used in forestry, pasture systems, and management of areas set aside as wildlife habitat. Some plants produce natural herbicides, such as the genus Juglans (walnuts), or the tree of heaven; such action of natural herbicides, and other related chemical interactions, is called allelopathy. Herbicides are widely used in agriculture and in landscape turf management. In the U.S., they account for about 70% of all agricultural pesticide use.[1]