Wastewater as a resource for pest control: An overview

Abstract

Pests have a negative impact on the economy and the environment. There is an increased urgency for adequate pest control because many pests show high adaptation and climate change has created favorable circumstances for pests. For pest control, synthetic chemicals are used that are lethal to non-target organisms and are toxic to pollinators and aquatic invertebrates. Chemical compounds in plants and derivatives from lignocellulosic materials act against pests. The wastewater from lignocellulosic biomass is a potential source of new compounds with bactericidal, fungicidal, and pesticidal effects that have demonstrated inhibitory activity against plant pathogens. Fungicidal, nematicidal, insecticidal, larvicidal, and bactericidal activities have been proven. Inorganic and organic compounds, such as phenols, aldehydes, esters, and furanics, are the main ones identified. Due to the antimicrobial activity of wastewater, applying it to the soil can modify the composition and structure of key microbial communities. Deep research about richness, biodiversity, functionality, and microbials is needed. This review provides a comprehensive overview of wastewater types that have been applied and possible sources to obtain potential compounds for pest control. Moreover, associated active compounds, recovery techniques, and environmental impacts are reviewed.

Curly lettuce production using cassava wastewater as a potassium source

“…The data were submitted to analysis of variance (p ≤ 0.05) using the Agroestat ® software v. 1.1.0.626 (Barbosa & Maldonado Jr., 2015) after checking the assumptions with the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality and Levene's test for homogeneity of variance using the IBM SPSS Statistics software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA, v. 20), both with p ≤ 0.05.…”

“…It is a short-cycle vegetable that requires high amounts of mineral fertilizers to meet its needs, mainly N and K, which are obtained using highly soluble fertilizers complemented with manure from cattle or other organic compounds (Cecílio Filho et al, 2018;Souza et al, 2019). An organic byproduct generated during the manufacturing process of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) flour that can be used as fertilizer is cassava wastewater (CWW), which, as it is rich in nutrients, improves the chemical quality of the soil (Fernandes et al, 2019;Bailón-Salas et al, 2021;Costa et al, 2021a).…”