Changing trends in discovery of new fungicides: a perspective

Fungicides, despite certain limitations, continue to play a crucial role in the management of plant diseases. In their history of more than a century, several fungicide classes have been introduced starting from multi-site inorganic salts to organic compounds with protectant action and then to single-site systemic fungicides with curative activity. However, site-specific fungicides are regularly confronted with the problem of resistance. New compounds with novel modes of action are introduced to manage resistance to the existing fungicides and to provide more effective options for control of devastating diseases. Technological advances such as combinatorial chemistry, high throughput screening and bio-rational screen designs have revolutionized the synthesis and development of new fungicide active ingredients. However, stringent regulatory pressure has impacted the discovery of new active ingredients and this has led to the decline in introduction rate of new fungicides. In future, natural compounds hold promise to serve as new fungicide leads in place of more toxic synthetic compounds. This review will discuss technological advances and challenges in the discovery and development of new fungicides and future research needs for more ecofriendly disease management.