Recent advances and remaining barriers to producing novel formulations of fungicides for safe and sustainable agriculture

• Published in: Journal of controlled release Vol. 326; pp. 468 - 481
• Main Authors: Tleuova, Aiym B., Wielogorska, Ewa, Talluri, V.S.S.L. Prasad, Štěpánek, František, Elliott, Christopher T., Grigoriev, Dmitry O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 10.10.2020
• Subjects: Delivery system; Environment; Fungicide; Microencapsulation; Sustainable agriculture; Toxicity; Delivery system; Environment; Microencapsulation; Sustainable agriculture; Toxicity; Fungicide
• ISSN: 0168-3659; 1873-4995
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.07.035

Fungi have evolved for 1 billion years and due to their adaptability and resilience can be found in multiple habitats around the globe. Among numerous species of fungi, some are pathogenic, and humans have battled since the dawn of organized agriculture to reduce production losses. With the arrival of fungicides many gains have been made in this struggle. However, though fungicides have greatly contributed to substantial increase in agricultural productivity, their over usage has led to both health and environmental repercussions. They remain cornerstone of the agriculture industry, however, development of safer formulations to champion sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture is of great importance, especially in face of a growing global population, climate change and increasing fungal resistance to existing compounds. The aim of this review is to present the state of the art in fungicides formulations developed for agrochemistry, also describing recent improvements in their safety, with special focus on fungicides used most against the ten most important fungal pathogens. The major focus in the field remains to be the improvement of the overall performance of the fungicide formulations. The research trends are also moving towards developing more eco-friendly formulations. However, there are still very few studies assessing nanoformulations toxicity and environmental impact. For example, there is still a limited body of research on the holistic assessment of nanoformulation shells' fate in soil and in the environment after release, as well as redistribution within plants after absorption, with no studies on human or environmental exposure. [Display omitted] •Studies emphasise attention on the overall performance of conventional fungicides.•Research trends are moving towards developing more eco-friendly formulations.•Research on formulation shells' fate in the environment after release is needed.•Toxicity of encapsulated fungicide residue after release is required to be assessed.