The imperative use of pesticides for enhancing agricultural productivity has become inevitable. Unfortunately, the unregulated and indiscriminate application of these pesticides extends beyond the intended target areas, with residues persisting for months to even years. This lack of precision and information has triggered widespread pest outbreaks, posing significant health risks to both humans and other organisms due to pesticide residues in food. The presence of even trace amounts of these residues has emerged as a major impediment to international trade in food commodities. To address these challenges and align with sustainable practices, the article highlights the urgent need for controlled pesticide techniques, including organic farming, safe harvest indices, and bioremediation, which are crucial aspects of mitigating admixed micropollutants in the environment. The discussion covers the impact of pesticides on food quality, effective residue management, and the vital role of regulatory bodies. Drawing from diverse sources, the work seeks to provide a concise yet comprehensive overview and solutions to the challenges of pesticide management.

A checklist of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) within the present geographical frontier of Indian subcontinent up to 2016 is provided. As per the current checklist prepared, there are 1536 species, classified under 440 genera, 72 tribes, and seven subfamilies of Cerambycidae (Parandrinae is not present in India). The report is accounted for 4.2 per cent of species, 7.94 per cent of genera and 28.24 per cent of tribes from India as compared to global record. For each species, accepted nomenclature followed by all relevant works reporting systematics, distribution and ecology of Indian longhorn beetles is provided along with synonyms, type locality and distribution within and outside India.

The shoot and fruit borer,Leucinodes orbonalis(Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is the major cause of low productivity in eggplant and insecticides being the mainstay of management ofL. orbonalis. However, field control failures are widespread due to the evolution of insecticide resistance. Taking advantage of the whole genome sequence information, the present study investigated the level of insecticide resistance and the expression pattern of individual carboxylesterase (CE) and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) genes in various field collected populations ofL. orbonalis. Dose-mortality bioassays revealed a very high level of resistance development against fenvalerate (48.2–160-fold), phosalone (94-534.6-fold), emamectin benzoate (7.2–55-fold), thiodicarb (9.64–22.7-fold), flubendiamide (187.4–303.0-fold), and chlorantraniliprole (1.6–8.6-fold) in field populations as compared to laboratory-reared susceptible iso-female colony (Lo-S). Over-production of detoxification enzymesviz., CE and GST were evident upon enzyme assays. Mining of the draft genome ofL. orbonalisyielded large number of genes potentially belonging to the CE and GST gene families with known history of insecticide resistance in other insects. Subsequent RT-qPCR studies on relative contribution of individual genes revealed over-expression of numerous GSTs and few CEs in field populations, indicating their possible involvement of metabolic enzymes in insecticide resistance. The genomic information will facilitate the development of novel resistance management strategies against this pest.

The active and inexpensive catalyst cupric oxide (CuO) loaded foliar fertilizer of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) is investigated for biological applications due to its low cost and easy synthesis. The synthesized CuO NPs, bulk g-C₃N₄, exfoliated g-C₃N₄, and different weight percentages of 30 wt%, 40 wt%, 50 wt%, 60 wt%, and 70 wt% CuO-loaded g-C₃N₄ are characterized using different analytical techniques, including powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The nanocomposite of CuO NPs loaded g-C₃N₄ exhibits antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The 20 μg/mL of 70 wt% CuO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite showed an efficiency of 98% for Gram-positive bacteria, 80% for E. Coli, and 85% for P. aeruginosa. In the same way, since the 70 wt% CuO/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite showed the best results for antibacterial activity, the same compound was evaluated for anti-fungal activity. For this purpose, the fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Trichoderma viride were used. The anti-fungal activity experiments were not conducted in the presence of sunlight, and no appreciable fungal inhibition was observed. As per the literature, the presence of the catalyst g-C₃N₄, without an external light source, reduces the fungal inhibition performance. Hence, in the future, some modifications in the experimental conditions should be considered to improve the anti-fungal activity.