Assessment of the pesticidal behaviour of diacyl hydrazine-based ready-to-use nanoformulations

Abstract Background Application of nanotechnology for crop protection in the form of nanopesticide has attracted significant interest in modern agriculture for the management of devastating polyphagous pests. In the present work, highly stable, ready-to-use water-based nanoformulations of hydrazine-based pesticides were evaluated for their Insect Growth Regulatory potential against the polyphagous insect pest—Spodoptera litura. Also, the nanoformulations were screened for their antifungal behaviour against plant pathogenic fungi; Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium solani, and Alternaria solani. Results Nanoformulation of sulfonyl acyl hydrazine derivative, NF7, emerged as the best insect growth regulator with GI90 value 0.010 mg L−1 followed by NF4 and NF6 with GI90 0.012 and 0.013 mg L−1, respectively. Results of diet incorporation method showed enhanced efficacy of nanoformulations when compared with topical application method. Antifungal screening showed that many nanoformulations displayed at least 50% growth inhibition for treatment dosage 50–200 mg L−1 against the fungal pathogens tested (C. gloeosporioides, R. solani, F. solani, and A. solani). NF6, NF7, and NF8 were more potent antifungal agents at lower treatment dosages, while at high doses (400 and 800 mg L−1), 100% growth inhibition at concentration was observed against R. solani and F. solani, except NF1 having 64% growth inhibition against F. solani. Conclusion Results presented here are very promising and deliver new nanoformulations of diacyl and sulfonyl acyl hydrazine-based derivatives to be employed as nanopesticide for sustainable crop protection.