Prelims 2012 · archive
EasyConsider the following kinds of organisms:
- 1.Bacteria
- 2.Fungi
- 3.Flowering plants
Some species of which of the above kinds of organisms are employed as biopesticides?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Biopesticides come from living organisms or their natural products. Bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis), fungi (Trichoderma) and flowering plants (neem, Azadirachta indica) all supply them, so all three kinds qualify.
- ✓ 1. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a bacterium. Its dried spores are sprayed on crops to kill insect larvae. Its toxin gene is also placed in crops such as Bt cotton.
- ✓ 2. Trichoderma species are free-living soil fungi. They are used as biocontrol agents against several plant pathogens. Some fungi also kill insects or weeds.
- ✓ 3. Neem (Azadirachta indica) is a flowering tree. Oil pressed from its seeds is registered as a biopesticide, and plant extracts are another type of biopesticide.
Remember · Biopesticides include microbial agents (Bt bacterium, Trichoderma fungus, baculovirus) and plant-derived products (neem). Bt cotton is a plant carrying a bacterial gene.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Biology, Ch 8 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Biology, Chapter 8 “A biological control being developed for use in the treatment of plant disease is the fungus Trichoderma. Trichoderma species are free-living fungi that are very common in the root ecosystems.”
- US EPA – What are Biopesticides? ↗ “Microbial pesticides consist of a microorganism (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient.”
- US EPA – Biopesticides Registration Action Document: Cold Pressed Neem Oil ↗ “The active ingredient Cold Pressed Neem Oil is pressed directly from seeds of the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica), which is a tropical evergreen tree native to India”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies paper. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·