1 Introduction
Pesticides are the diverse group of chemicals being used globally and categorized as
herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, and nematicides,
depending on the target pests. In agricultural sector, these pesticides are applied to
prevent or control pest diseases, weeds, and other plant pathogens in order to
maintain high agricultural productivity or reduce yield losses (Damalas and
Eleftherohorinos 2011). Approximately 45% of food productivity is lost due to
pests every year; thus, there is a need to increase the world food production capacity
for the rapidly growing population (Schreinemachers and Tipraqsa 2012; Abhilash
and Singh 2009). The pesticides are the only toxic chemicals used intentionally into
the environment to kill pests. But its uncontrolled utilization has created a lot of
health-associated problems. It is estimated that nearly 300,000 deaths account
globally every year due to pesticides poisoning (Sabarwal et al. 2018). Therefore,
its detection and degradation becomes a necessity and an inevitable area of research.
Bioremediation is considered as the removal of unwanted toxic compounds from the
contaminated site or environment using biological activities, i.e., elimination of
undesirable materials from environment applying biological sources like plants
and microbial diversity or the substances obtained from them. Though it is a natural
ongoing process, various interventions can be introduced to improve its efficiency as
well as make it faster and specific to decontaminate the polluted sites (Hlihor et al.
2017; Shankar et al. 2011; Iwamoto and Nasu 2001; Vidali 2001). Bioremediation
can be defined as the application of microbial metabolism to remove or decompose
persistent pollutants, such as pesticides from the environment (Huang et al. 2018).
Several microbes have been found with efficient metabolic activities that are able to
convert pesticides into less toxic metabolites (Hussaini et al. 2013; Gupta et al.
2019). Several microorganisms have been reported having immense potential to deal
with xenobiotic compounds (Gupta et al. 2017; Rathour et al. 2018).
Although the biological methods of pesticide removal have encountered, some
limitations and challenges, such as screening and identification of potential microorganisms, complex pesticide structures, and delicate environmental conditions
(Vikrant et al. 2018; Liu et al. 2019a, b), advancement in technology leads these
techniques far above the conventional bioremediation methods. This chapter is
mainly focused on the application of microbial metabolisms for bioremediation of
pesticides. This also deals with the degradation or removal of pesticides by advanced
bioremediation technology. This chapter will provide clues for finding new research
approaches in the highly challenging bioremediation field through microbial
methods and advanced tools and technologies.
152
R. K. Ravi and R. Y. Hiranmai
Pesticides are the diverse group of chemicals being used globally and categorized as
herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, and nematicides,
depending on the target pests. In agricultural sector, these pesticides are applied to
prevent or control pest diseases, weeds, and other plant pathogens in order to
maintain high agricultural productivity or reduce yield losses (Damalas and
Eleftherohorinos 2011). Approximately 45% of food productivity is lost due to
pests every year; thus, there is a need to increase the world food production capacity
for the rapidly growing population (Schreinemachers and Tipraqsa 2012; Abhilash
and Singh 2009). The pesticides are the only toxic chemicals used intentionally into
the environment to kill pests. But its uncontrolled utilization has created a lot of
health-associated problems. It is estimated that nearly 300,000 deaths account
globally every year due to pesticides poisoning (Sabarwal et al. 2018). Therefore,
its detection and degradation becomes a necessity and an inevitable area of research.
Bioremediation is considered as the removal of unwanted toxic compounds from the
contaminated site or environment using biological activities, i.e., elimination of
undesirable materials from environment applying biological sources like plants
and microbial diversity or the substances obtained from them. Though it is a natural
ongoing process, various interventions can be introduced to improve its efficiency as
well as make it faster and specific to decontaminate the polluted sites (Hlihor et al.
2017; Shankar et al. 2011; Iwamoto and Nasu 2001; Vidali 2001). Bioremediation
can be defined as the application of microbial metabolism to remove or decompose
persistent pollutants, such as pesticides from the environment (Huang et al. 2018).
Several microbes have been found with efficient metabolic activities that are able to
convert pesticides into less toxic metabolites (Hussaini et al. 2013; Gupta et al.
2019). Several microorganisms have been reported having immense potential to deal
with xenobiotic compounds (Gupta et al. 2017; Rathour et al. 2018).
Although the biological methods of pesticide removal have encountered, some
limitations and challenges, such as screening and identification of potential microorganisms, complex pesticide structures, and delicate environmental conditions
(Vikrant et al. 2018; Liu et al. 2019a, b), advancement in technology leads these
techniques far above the conventional bioremediation methods. This chapter is
mainly focused on the application of microbial metabolisms for bioremediation of
pesticides. This also deals with the degradation or removal of pesticides by advanced
bioremediation technology. This chapter will provide clues for finding new research
approaches in the highly challenging bioremediation field through microbial
methods and advanced tools and technologies.
152
R. K. Ravi and R. Y. Hiranmai