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Anisha Satpati, Sarupa Barman, Nirmallya Ghosh and Sudha Gupta*
Department of Botany, University of Kalyani, Kalyani-74235, West Bengal, India
Email: sudhaguptain@gmail.com
Received-02.09.2025, Revised-13.09.2025, Accepted-28.09.2025
Abstract: The widespread use of pesticides in agriculture has raised concerns about their unintended effects on crop reproductive success and long-term sustainability. Reproductive organs, particularly pollen grains, are highly sensitive to pesticide-induced stress, yet limited studies have examined this issue in mustard (Brassica juncea), a major oilseed crop in India. Excessive pesticide uses and associated heavy metal contamination act as major agrochemical stressors in crop systems. These inputs trigger primary stress pathways, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction, nutrient disruption, enzyme dysfunction, and hormonal imbalance. Such disturbances impair reproductive processes, leading to reduced pollen viability, inhibited germination, structural abnormalities in pollen, flower damage, and lower seed set. The cumulative outcomes manifest as yield reduction, decline in crop quality, accumulation of toxic residues in the food chain, and risks to biodiversity. To mitigate these impacts, a combination of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), cultural practices, physical and mechanical controls, biological agents, biopesticides, and plant growth regulators (PGRs) offers a sustainable pathway to protect crop reproduction and maintain agricultural productivity under agrochemical stress. Given the heavy reliance on pesticides in mustard cultivation, such reproductive impairments pose risks not only to crop yield and quality but also indirectly to pollinator-derived byproducts such as honey. This review, together with our preliminary experimental findings on pollen abnormalities in B. juncea, highlights the urgent need for further investigations into combined pesticide effects, soil parameters, and molecular responses, as well as the adoption of integrated management strategies and stress-mitigation approaches for sustainable agriculture.
Keywords: Pesticide stress, Pollen viability, Reproductive traits, Oxidative stress, Integrated pest management
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