Background: Tea is a natural beverage made from the tender leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis Kuntze). Being of a perennial and monoculture nature in terms of its cultivation system, it provides a stable micro-climate for various insect pests, which cause substantial loss of crop. With the escalating cost of insect pest management and increasing concern about the adverse effects of the pesticide residues in manufactured tea, there is an urgent need to explore other avenues for pest management strategies.Aim: Integrated pest management (IPM) in tea invites an multidisciplinary approach owing to the high pest diversity in the perennial tea plantation system. In this review, we have highlighted current developments of nanotechnology for crop protection and the prospects of nanoparticles (NPs) in plant protection, emphasizing the control of different major pests of tea plantations.Methods: A literature search was performed using the ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Pubmed, and Google Scholar search engines with the following terms: nanotechnology, nanopesticides, tea, and insect pest. An article search concentrated on developments after 1988.Results: We have described the impact of various pests in tea production and innovative approaches on the use of various biosynthesized and syntheric nanopesticides against specific insect pest targets. Simultaneously, we have provided support for NP-based technology and their different categories that are currently employed for the management of pests in different agro-ecosystems. Besides the broad categories of active ingredients (AI) of synthetic insecticides, pheromones and natural resource-based molecules have pesticidal activity and can also be used with NPs as a carriers as alternatives to traditional pest control agents. Finally, the merits and demerits of incorporating NP-based nanopesticides are also illustrated.Conclusions: Nanopesticides for plant protection is an emerging research field, and it offers new methods to design active ingredients amid nanoscale dimensions. Nanopesticide-based formulations have a potential and bright future for the development of more effective and safer pesticide/biopesticides.

Background Entomopathogens are pathogenic to insect pests. Several types of naturally occurring, viz. fungus, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes, infect a range of insect pests and help manage crop growth. They offer several advantages over chemical pesticides, including being precise, safe, and ecologically sustainable. Agricultural systems are streamlined, and changes to natural ecosystems occur. Viruses, bacteria are host-specific, while fungi have a greater host range, and they may infect both soil-dwelling and aboveground pests. Main body The study highlights the current state of knowledge on entomopathogenic microorganisms (EM) (entomopathogenic fungi, nematodes, viruses, bacteria, etc.) as it relates to their current usage as biological pest management. It is essential to enhance our understanding of the ecology of EM and their role in nature to use a variety of biological control techniques against insect hosts. This article may help to comprehend their accomplishments in the significant field. Some recent researches indicated common patterns in interactions between insect pests and EM. Conclusion More focus has been placed on the use of natural enemies like entomopathogens for pest control in recent years. EM expands possibilities for insect control. Eco-friendly alternatives to existing agricultural pesticides are being developed which are utilized to control insect pests and support agricultural sustainability.

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