Pesticide Use in Agriculture -A Controversy.
Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, which kill insects, weeds, and are harmful to humans. They often have direct or indirect effects on other living things. Synthetic pesticides are chemical compounds; some are more toxic than others. Synthetic pesticides can release compounds that are more toxic than the original pesticides when they break down in the environment. Some called persistent materials just "hang around" and don't break down for long periods of time. Botanical pesticides, almost all of which are insecticides, are derived directly from plants or animals. It breaks down rapidly in the environment, usually in a matter of hours or days, and are not known to accumulate in the environment. Materials such as lead arsenate, salt, copper, soap, sulfur, oil and wood ashes, have been used as pesticides with varying levels of success and varying rates of toxicity. Most are still used today, fortunately with a better understanding of their effects. No pesticide is considered "safe." Using pesticides may be necessary at times, but in many cases there are alternatives that are often more effective in the long run and less harmful to the environment and the applicator. .
In response to Maurice Gordon's comment, one can disagree with his statement because there is not enough evidence to prove that without pesticides, starvation will become a problem. However, there are many reasons to believe that alternatives may have a greater benefit to the environment as well as effective in productivity. Besides pesticides, there are controls such as biological, cultivation methods, genetic, pheromones and hormones, and Quarantine. The proper timing of planting, fertilizing, and irrigating enable the plants to resist pests because they are stressed by other environmental factors. Biological controls use natural disease organisms, parasites, or predators to control pests (an example is the cottony-cushion scale and Vidalia beetle).
Methods such as Genetics are used to modify crops and animals. ... Agriculture plays a major role in our lifestyle. ... With the use of this new technology, pesticides are no longer needed. ... Along with other major developments in science, there is much controversy that follows biotechnology. ... The FDA will then allow these products to be sold and used. ...
People felt that the decisions made by government officials during these controversies were based on political expediency rather than on public safety. ... However, such concerns are countered by scientific studies that show positive effects on beneficial insects and a sparing of pesticides on GM crops, particularly cotton, which is the most heavily sprayed of all commercial crops. ... Much of the controversy derives from the basis for comparison of impact. Some compare GM impacts to a zero risk paradigm in which agricultural practices have no impact on the environment at all. Others compa...
Genetic engineering can also be known for the amount of controversy it brings with it. ... If this is done, less pesticide would be used, hence, less chemicals would be exposed to the environments, and more importantly, the food eaten [CITATION Dai13 p 22 l 1033 ]. The use of pesticides in the crops has many dangers that affect not only the human being but also the ecosystem that it is spread in. For example, the chemicals used to make pesticides are toxic to the human body, so when someone eats food which contains pesticides, these chemicals are filtered by the liver, which has to recover f...
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency " (For Consumers). ... In China the use of the Bt gene was genetically modified into cotton crops, which makes the plant toxic to key pests, allowing farmers to dramatically reduce the use of pesticides. This allows the plant to produce protein to protect themselves from pesticides and disease without any severe or harsh pesticides. Using the Bt gene in china reduced 78,000 tons of pesticides in 2001("Pocket K No. 4: GM Crops and the Environment). The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that over $300 milli...
The crops producing these modified organisms have agricultural benefits. ... Genetically engineered foods can also help reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides. ... Since two-thirds of genetically engineered crops are modified to withstand herbicides or pesticides, allowing farmers to use the herbicides or pesticides without killing the crops (Environmental Hazards 1), farmers will actually use more harmful herbicides and pesticides. ... However, decreased use is only possible when crops are modified to be their own herbicide or pesticide. ... In essence, the amount of herbicides and...
Department of Agriculture. ... Department of Agriculture. This was done as a preventative to keep diseased animals used as food consumption. ... Products produced with complicated processing methods mad in mass volumes caused the contamination interests due to pesticides, drugs given to animals and the preservatives. ... Using many types of programs to reduce intentional, unintentional contaminations as well as scientific approaches to prevent food hazards such as; salmonella, e coli, and listeria. ...
People have been altering the genomes of plants and animals for many years using traditional breeding techniques, however, when GMOs were introduced in the 1980's, a controversy began. ... Also, studies have shown that pesticide-producing crops contaminate nearby streams, possibly affecting aquatic life. ... After studying 150 organic and non-organic food products, lead author Ken Green, professor of environmental management at the Manchester Business School, reported, "There is certainly insufficient evidence available to state that organic agriculture overall would have less of an envir...
However, as is the case in many nations, the European Union (EU) has succeeded in creating an artificial market for agricultural products through the use of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). ... In light of the CAP, the controversy of government intervention has also have been a major issue. ... The European Union's common agricultural policy protects and subsidizes agriculture so heavily as to bring serious social losses to the Economic Union. ... First and foremost, the Common Agricultural Policy has kept agricultural prices in the member countries above world market prices. ... T...
As scientific technology is expanding by leaps and bounds, so too has agriculture and the methods used to produce the ever increasing demand for use of farm commodities. ... In the past several years, the increasing use and growing supply of genetically altered crops has influenced farmer's supply and affected consumers" demands for agriculturally related products. ... In more recent months, the seed production giant Monsanto--hoping to avoid a controversy--notified officials of a system slip of canola strains that had never been commercially approved for use. ... The results of evaluatin...
