India’s biopesticide regulation must protect farmer rights, grassroots practices
DownToEarth
2026.02.18
As Indian agriculture moves away from chemical pesticides, pushed by pest resistance, rising costs and serious health concerns, biopesticides are emerging as an important alternative. Yet the shift has exposed a regulatory vacuum increasingly exploited at farmers’ expense.
Today, the sector operates in two parallel worlds: A small formal market of packaged commercial products and a vast informal universe of farmer-made traditional formulations. Between these worlds lies a policy challenge unlike any other.
The debate is no longer whether regulation is necessary, but what kind can protect farmers without suffocating the innovation and community knowledge that make biological pest management work. If done poorly, regulation could either leave cultivators vulnerable to fraud or destroy grassroots practices that have sustained agriculture for generations.
As Indian agriculture moves away from chemical pesticides, pushed by pest resistance, rising costs and serious health concerns, biopesticides are emerging as an important alternative. Yet the shift has exposed a regulatory vacuum increasingly exploited at farmers’ expense.
Today, the sector operates in two parallel worlds: A small formal market of packaged commercial products and a vast informal universe of farmer-made traditional formulations. Between these worlds lies a policy challenge unlike any other.
The debate is no longer whether regulation is necessary, but what kind can protect farmers without suffocating the innovation and community knowledge that make biological pest management work. If done poorly, regulation could either leave cultivators vulnerable to fraud or destroy grassroots practices that have sustained agriculture for generations.
Read more here.