The major challenges in sustainable and profitable agriculture are developing high-yielding crop varieties and reducing crop losses. Presently, there are significant crop losses due to weed/bird/insect/animal attacks. Among the various renewable energy sources, solar energy is utilized for different agricultural operations, especially in plant protection applications. Solar photovoltaic (PV) devices present a positive approach to sustainable crop production by reducing crop loss in various ways. This might result in the extensive use of PV devices in the near future. PV-based plant protection equipment/devices are primarily utilized in protecting crops from birds, weeds, or insects. Solar-powered plant protection equipment such as light traps, bird scarers, sprayers, weeders, and fencing are gaining interest due to their lower operational costs, simple design, no fuel requirements, and zero carbon emissions. Most of these PV devices require 12 V rechargeable batteries with different currents to meet the load, which varies from 2 to 1500 W. This paper briefly discusses the applications of solar-powered plant protection devices in sustainable agriculture and their future prospects.

Nano-enabled essential oil formulations provide a sustainable, effective solution for storage pest control with enhanced stability and reduced environmental impact.

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stal) is still dominating and considered as an important insect in rice and causes considerable yield losses. Host plant resistance is an effective and environment friendly approach to manage the insect pest and screening is a continuous process to identify the resistant sources. With changing climatic conditions and development of biotypes or strains necessitate quicken the process of screening and identification resistant lines time to time. Standard seed box method has been followed for several years and identifying resistant at seedling stage is important process to initiate further identification of resistant factors and development of varieties. In the present study attempts were made to screen the advanced rice entries in protray and standard seed box methods. The reaction of rice entries to BPH in both methods are discussed. The advantage of protray screening and few limitations in the seed box method are described.

Rice, a staple crop for over half the global population, faces severe yield losses due to insect pests, such as the rice stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas), brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) and leaf folder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis) and minor insect pests, which are significant threats to global food security. Traditional reliance on chemical pesticides for pest control has negatively impacted the environment, human health and non-target organisms. This has necessitated a shift toward sustainable pest management strategies that minimize chemical inputs. Botanicals, derived from plants as essential oils, extracts and secondary metabolites, have emerged as an eco-friendly alternative due to their biodegradability, targeted efficacy and reduced environmental footprint. These plant-based compounds act through various mechanisms, including antifeedant activity, growth inhibition, oviposition deterrence, ovicidal effects and toxicity, effectively disrupting pest lifecycles without harming non-target species. Studies underscore the potential of botanicals in suppressing pest populations and mitigating crop losses, making them vital components of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. When incorporated into IPM programs alongside biological control agents, cultural practices and resistant rice varieties, botanicals enhance pest control efficacy while preserving ecosystem balance and promoting biodiversity. Their use aligns with sustainable agriculture principles, offering a viable path to reduce pesticide dependency and ensure long-term agricultural resilience. This review highlights the critical role of botanicals in IPM for rice cultivation, emphasizing their potential to mitigate pest impacts while supporting environmentally sustainable and economically viable food production systems.

To overcome the adverse effects of synthetic pesticides in rice, organic farming by utilizing botanicals is a viable alternative. The bio-efficacy of cow-urine-based extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica), nochi (Vitex nigundo) and adhatoda (Adhatoda vasica) was studied. The experiments targeted major sucking insect pests, brown plant hopper (BPH) and green leaf hopper (GLH), in wetland paddy fields, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, during Rabi 2023. The results showed that the cow-urine-based extracts of neem, nochi and adhathoda (NNA) leaves @15 % were most effective against BPH and GLH with 70.23 and 72.48 percent reduction over control (PROC), which was on par with NNA leaf extract @10 % and the PROC were 67.13 and 68.18, respectively. Individual 10 % leaf extracts of Neem, Nochi and Adhatoda recorded lower PROC values against BPH (53.68 %, 55.40 % and 53.68 %) and GLH (52.68 %, 55.75 % and 53.02 %) compared to the combined NNA extract at 15 % and 10 %. The neem, nochi and adhatoda (NNA) leaf extract @ 15 % has a moderate impact on beneficial arthropods, expressed as percent impact over control (PIOC) for natural enemies like spiders (27.70), coccinellids (32.99), rove beetles (10.88), mirid bugs (19.95) and ground beetles (43.99). Foliar application of NNA leaf extract at 10 % resulted in lower PIOC values (26.28 %, 31.33 %, 10.14 %, 18.74 % and 39.86 %, respectively, for spiders, coccinellids, rove beetles, mirid bugs and ground beetles), indicating its relative safety for beneficial arthropods. The eco-friendly, cost-effective and residue-free nature of the cow-urine-based neem, nochi and adhatoda leaf extract can be easily incorporated into the Integrated Pest Management programmes in the organic rice production system.