Pesticides have become a very popular fixture in the agriculture market. The use of pesticides in our food is also a topic that has polarized many involved and uninvolved in the debate regarding the use of a pesticide in agriculture. Both those who are for and those who are against pesticide use have excellent points. Here are the pros cons and using pesticide in agriculture.
There are a number of pros to pesticide use, and most of them have to do with the economic viability of pesticides. Pesticide production is a $50 billion business, of which about 40% is exported to other countries. Additionally, pesticide use is responsible for saving the lives of millions of people from typhoid, sleeping sickness, the Black plague, malaria, and yellow fever. Farms lose 35% of their crops before cropping, without pesticide, they would lose over 40% of their crops. Pesticide is also good for forestry because it removes invasive and harmful insects such as the gypsy moth and the spruce budworm.
The cons have much to do with the actual effectiveness of pesticides. Over the past several years, and especially since the use of pesticide has grown, we have seen more bug and plant species evolve to become resistant to pesticides. This means that the overall effectiveness of pesticides has decreased. Pesticides also kill off predators who would naturally kill pests. This means that there are more pests because there are fewer predators, and we, therefore, have to use more pesticide. When applying pesticide aerially, only about 10% of the pesticide reaches the croup and anywhere from 0.1% to 5% reach the targeted pests. Lastly, everywhere 1 – 5 million people are poisoned and die to due to being exposed to pesticides.
Daniel David Brauer is trained in basic pesticide use and safety.