Pest and Pesticides
Pest and Pesticides
For centuries, pests have been feasting on crops and not only decreasing a farmer’s crop yield, but also spreading diseases that can even be deadly. Mosquitos, like the one to the left can carry many diseases such as West Nile and malaria.1 There are so many pests from insects such as beetles, which feed off of crops such as the potato plant (left), and mosquitos (left) to rodents such as rats that “even with extensive use of pesticides, a substantial amount of damaged [crops] is caused by pests each year” (Mark A. Kantor, “Pesticides and Your Food). Pesticides (i.e: insecticides, rodenticides) are used to decrease the population of pests. Even though pesticides are the most “fast-acting” (“Pesticides”, Master Gardner Foundation) for eliminating a large majority of pests that feed on crops, it has and extensive amount of negative impacts not only on animals but for humans as well. The use of pesticides on crops has proven to be very effective over the years and have many benefits. With the decrease of pests, comes an increase in not only the crop yield but also in the quality of the food because of the elimination of diseases that pests might spread on plants and then be ingested by humans. This increase in crop yield is not only very beneficial for putting food on the table but also for economical reasons. In the 1980s, many European countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands instated laws that demanded a 50% drop in the use of pesticides2. What they soon discovered was decrease in the amount of money they got back from their initial planting. On average, farmers use 700 million lb of pesticides each year that cost about 4.1 billion dollars2. What has been shown to happen is that farmers who use pesticides received 3-5 dollars back for every 1 dollar they spent on the use of pesticides2. This is a significant economic benefit that would disappear with a drop of 50% in the use of pesticides. Another benefit of pesticides is the
For centuries, pests have been feasting on crops and not only decreasing a farmer’s crop yield, but also spreading diseases that can even be deadly. Mosquitos, like the one to the left can carry many diseases such as West Nile and malaria.1 There are so many pests from insects such as beetles, which feed off of crops such as the potato plant (left), and mosquitos (left) to rodents such as rats that “even with extensive use of pesticides, a substantial amount of damaged [crops] is caused by pests each year” (Mark A. Kantor, “Pesticides and Your Food). Pesticides (i.e: insecticides, rodenticides) are used to decrease the population of pests. Even though pesticides are the most “fast-acting” (“Pesticides”, Master Gardner Foundation) for eliminating a large majority of pests that feed on crops, it has and extensive amount of negative impacts not only on animals but for humans as well. The use of pesticides on crops has proven to be very effective over the years and have many benefits. With the decrease of pests, comes an increase in not only the crop yield but also in the quality of the food because of the elimination of diseases that pests might spread on plants and then be ingested by humans. This increase in crop yield is not only very beneficial for putting food on the table but also for economical reasons. In the 1980s, many European countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands instated laws that demanded a 50% drop in the use of pesticides2. What they soon discovered was decrease in the amount of money they got back from their initial planting. On average, farmers use 700 million lb of pesticides each year that cost about 4.1 billion dollars2. What has been shown to happen is that farmers who use pesticides received 3-5 dollars back for every 1 dollar they spent on the use of pesticides2. This is a significant economic benefit that would disappear with a drop of 50% in the use of pesticides. Another benefit of pesticides is the
Bibliography: Avasthi, Amitabh. "Pest-Resistant Crops Better Than Insecticide Use, Analysis Says." National Geographic. N.p., 7 June 2007. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. Bee Pollinating a Peach Tree Flower. 2011. Web "Benefits and Costs of Pesticide Use." IAEA Bulletin 24.3: 39-41 Cruzan, Mitch. "Harmful Effects of Pesticides." Nature in the Neighborhood. N.p., 2004. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. Gagnon, Steve. "The Element Sulfur." It 's Elemental. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. "Health Effects of Pesticides." Kids for Saving Earth. N.p., 2003. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. "India’s Growing Malnutrition Could Be Ameliorated By Approving Biotech Crops and Pesticides ." America Council on Science and Health. N.p., 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. Kantor, Mark A., and Amy E. Brown. Pesticides and Your Food. Maryland Cooperative Extension, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. Lorenz, Eric S. Potential Health Effects of Pesticides. National Poison Center, 2009. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. Mosquito_1. 2011. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. "Pesticides." Master Gardner Foundation. Washington State University, n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. "Pesticides." Pollution Issues. N.p., 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. Pests 2. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. Pimentel, David, Laurie McLaughlin, Andrew Zepp, Tamara Kraus, and Peter Kleinman. "Environmental and Economic Effects of Reducing Pesticide Use." BioScience 41.6 June (1991): 402+. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. Sulfur. 2007. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. "The Effects of Pesticides." Global Healing Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. Williams, Garreth. Biology for You. United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Ltd, 2006. 2007. University of Wisconsin , Wisconsin. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. 3"India’s Growing Malnutrition Could Be Ameliorated By Approving Biotech Crops and Pesticides ." America Council on Science and Health. N.p., 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. 4 Cruzan, Mitch. "Harmful Effects of Pesticides." Nature in the Neighborhood. N.p., 2004. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. 5 Lorenz, Eric S. Potential Health Effects of Pesticides. National Poison Center, 2009. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. 6"Health Effects of Pesticides." Kids for Saving Earth. N.p., 2003. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. 7"The Effects of Pesticides." Global Healing Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. 8 Avasthi, Amitabh. "Pest-Resistant Crops Better Than Insecticide Use, Analysis Says." National Geographic. N.p., 7 June 2007. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. 9"Pesticides." Pollution Issues. N.p., 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2011.