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REVIEW article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics

Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1657000

This article is part of the Research TopicBiopesticides: their contributions towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-2)View all 4 articles

Biopesticides for sustainable agriculture: feasible options for adopting cost-effective strategies

Provisionally accepted
  • 1National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Abuja, Nigeria
  • 2World Bank Centre for Oilfield Chemical Research, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • 3College of Animal and Environmental Science, University of South Africa, Florida Science Campus, South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Biopesticides have emerged as a central focus in contemporary policy and scientific discourse, owing to their strong alignment with green chemistry, One Health initiatives, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and sustainable agriculture. Beyond their established role in integrated pest management (IPM), they represent a pivotal driver in building resilient agricultural systems. However, their wider adoption is constrained by technical limitations and the high costs associated with refined formulations. This review aims to identify types and strategies of biopesticides that are both cost-effective and suitable for sustainable agriculture. Drawing on multiple case studies across diverse agroecological zones, the analysis reveals that cost-effective biopesticides are critical for advancing IPM in traditional and smallholder farming systems, while branded formulations predominantly benefit large-scale farms with greater economic capacity. Emphasis is placed on the utilisation of readily accessible biopesticides, including pesticidal plants, natural enemies, entomopathogenic nematodes, and botanical extracts and seed/seedling treatments, which collectively mitigate pest pressure, reduce reliance on chemical pesticides, and enhance crop yields within a structured progression described as the IPY trend. This trend underscores the interlinked dynamics of infestation levels, pesticide consumption, and crop productivity under cost-effective, biopesticide-driven IPM. Within this low-tech and high-tech classification framework, persistent controversies and the misconception that developing nations, long reliant on traditional agricultural technologies, lack awareness of biopesticides can be systematically examined and addressed, thereby facilitating informed policy decisions and optimised implementation strategies.

Keywords: Bioresource, Cost-effective options, IPM, Macrobials pesticides, Pesticidal plants, slow release, sustainable development

Received: 30 Jun 2025; Accepted: 23 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Fenibo and Matambo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Emmanuel Oliver Fenibo, feniboe1478@gmail.com
Tonderayi Matambo, matamts@unisa.ac.za

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.