Exploring the Benefits and Alternatives of Pesticides

823 Words2 Pages

Benefits of pesticides One of the benefits of using pesticides is to kill pesticides and worms that feed on the crops. Pesticides have been used in public health, forestry, agriculture, and domestic sphere. One of the main reasons why pesticides are used is to increase farm yields. Agricultural chemicals have contributed to the increased crop production. The second benefit of pesticides is the protection of crops from diseases. Weeds have been a great deal to farmers because they decrease crop productivity. In this situation, a farmer would choose to use herbicides to kill the weeds. Insecticides are used to kill vector based diseases. Malaria is one of the leading diseases that is caused by mosquitoes which can be killed using insecticides (Levine 277)
Alternatives to pesticides With the increased growth of the organic market, farmers have taken a lot of interest in finding other ways to control pests and diseases. The use of pesticides has led to great disasters on the soil, health, and food for the consumers. This and many other factors have made people come up with alternatives to control pests. Sustainable agriculture is a new way that will help solve the pesticide issue. Alternative measures that can be taken include; use of crop …show more content…

A good example is when you plant carrots with onions. The onion smell ends up chasing the carrot root fly and vice versa. The use of trap crops is another alternative to pesticides whereby pests are attracted away from the valuable crops. Organic farming is another alternative because it involves less of pesticides or any other method. Biological pest control is another means that farmers can use to reduce the use of pesticides. It includes the use of bacteria and viruses, entomopathogenic fungi, pheromones, and the release of natural pest and parasites. Insect breeding interference is the last alternative that can be used instead of pesticides to reduce the effects (Pimentel

Show More
Related

  • Pesticides In The Movie Food Inc

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many issues regarding the raising and producing of various livestock animals, and the use of pesticides on various types of crops. The movie Food.Inc does a good job explaining these issues, but in a very biased way. It makes agriculturists look like terrible people, when this is not the case.

    Read More

  • What Is DDT In Australia?

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    Organic fertilisers and natural pest control methods minimise the impact of viticulture on the environment. In recent years there has been a considerable movement by some growers towards an organic approach. This is as a result of consumer driven trends and pressure to minimise the environmental impact of viticulture.

    Read More

  • Pesticides In Ground Water and Drinking Water

    369 Words  | 1 Pages

    What is a pesticide?A pesticide is a chemical substance used to kill pests, especially insects. A pesticide is also refered to as a biocide. Most pesticides are applied in spray form but occasionaly you will see pesticides that are in powder or pellet form. Pesticides are used on a variety of things, anything from crops like corn, barley, and wheat, to plants like petunias, marigolds, and rhodadendrons, which are usually found in small gardens greenhouses, and even in your backyard.

    Read More

  • Dangerous Implications of Carcinogenic Insecticides

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    A question commonly associated with the word insecticides is, what are they? Well I have the answer, insecticides are chemicals that are used to eliminate insects. In the agricultural industry, insecticides are classified into different categories,and the most used is carcinogenic. A carcinogenic insecticide is a substance or agent producing or causing cancer. This is just one of the reason that I believe there are more cons then pros when dealing with a insecticide.. When I was a kid , I can remember my parents taking me and my brother an apple orchard and picking apples. I couldn't wait to eat them until I got home, but we couldn't eat an apple because of what insecticides could be on the apple

    Read More

  • The Obligation to Endure

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ortation of plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Indiscriminate pesticide use kills the good with the bad. Long term and wide spread pesticide use poisons underground water sources, which, in turn, poison plants, animals, and humans. And, finally, by our uninformed actions, new super races of pests continue to evolve and create even greater dangers than the original.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Sustainable Farm

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    The cutting down on the uses of pesticides and fertilizers is one on the next great step we have to make as a society. It will take a long time to implement these changes and there will be Problems along this journey. The sooner we start this long journey. The longer we have to work out the Kinks in sustainable farming. We at least should think about the future generations that will live on earth. This is the one place we all have to call home and it’s our job to take care of it for the next generations. We can’t give them a problem that take a long time to fix because it could be too late to fix the problems in a generations or two. This is why we need to push the world to a sustainable farm

    Read More

  • Assignment 3A: Safe And Effective Herbicide

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are three basic types of herbicides: pre-emergent, which inhibit the germination of weed seeds; knockdown herbicides which are directly applied to an already growing plant; and selective herbicides, which act only on one type of pest plant, bring specifically suited for it. Along with all of these herbicides, it is wise to consider an integrated pest management approach method; this combines other methods with minimal herbicide use in order to be eco-friendlier on the

    Read More

  • To what extent is Meat Consumption responsible for Global Warming?

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the years, meat eating has grown dramatically in many countries. Demand for meat production increased at a fearsome speed, which led to producers using pesticides and fertilizers on their crop. Because of our exponential population we could not begin to feed the population of the world without them. Farmers will need to increase the amount the chemicals used on their crops and animals to accelerate production process i...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Honey Bees

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    different kinds of plants, the money being saved from not buying pesticides could be used towards planting these “distraction plants”. Using pests to fight pests is also a very cheap way to fight off pests. Integrating predatory bugs, like ladybugs, can help kill off pests. Jules Pretty, an author who focuses his research on agricultural sustainability, is Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Essex. Pretty found that farmers who use pests to kill pests “have averaged 79% increase in crop yields” over other systems that were supposed to fight pests, but didn’t.

    Read More

  • Organic Farming vs Factory Farming

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conventional farming practices are responsible for many negative health and environmental issues. One of the main issues is the creation of monocultures in the farming environment. Specifically growing the same species of plants or animals in mass quantities without variation every season is not natural. Monocultures do not exist in nature (Pollan 67). Nature practices diversity and for good reason. In nature and organic farming, if there is a threat to one species, there are others to balance the decrease in the threatened species. Conventional farmers and the modern food industry argue that planting the same crop year after year is convenient and profitable because it cuts down on the different types of farm equipment necessary in production, and initially, in the types of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers needed. However, in this unnatural environment, tremendous amounts of pest...

    Read More

  • Organic versus Conventional Farming

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    For years organic farmers and conventional farmers have feuded over which is superior. Organic farmers argue that their product is more eco-friendly because they do not use the synthetic chemicals and fertilizers conventional farmer’s use. Conventional farmers argue that their product is healthier and yields more. People tend to have stereotypes regarding the two types of farmers. Organic farmers are usually thought of as liberal, hippy, tree-huggers while conventional farmers are usually thought of as right-wing, industrialists. Obviously, some do adhere to this stereotype, but a majority of these farmers are normal, hardworking people. Although these farmers, both believe in their methods, one is no better than the other. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but there is no true superior method of crop farming.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Conventional And Conventional Agriculture

    2223 Words  | 5 Pages

    A study of 362 datasets found that organic agriculture produces 80% of conventional yield with 21% standard deviation (Tomek et al. 2012). Second, organic farming requires less energy input which equates to less money spend from the farmers in addition to lowering carbon emissions. A study by the Department of Environment shows that organic agriculture uses 25 percent less than energy than their chemical counterparts, and certain crops like organic leeks and broccoli use 58 and 49 percent less, respectively (Bialis et al. 2013). Third, organic farming does not use pesticides. According to the World Health Center, 20,000 people die annually from the exposure of pesticides (Costa et al. 2014). Fourth, the methods that organic farmers use are better for the environment in the long run. And lastly, organic farming creates more jobs. A study done in United Kingdom shows 93,000 jobs could be created if Britain were to make a full scale shift to organic farming (Herro 2006). Although conventional agriculture is the primary producer for food currently, a large scale shift to organic agriculture is better suited to feed the world because organic agriculture can produce at adequate yield, requires less energy input, do not use

    Read More

  • Coal Mining Pros And Cons

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Instead of using pesticides in farming a better alternative would be biological control. This is when a natural predator is released into the crop growing area as a result the number of pests can be reduced.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Genetic Engineering on Agriculture

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    The new chemicals which are produced to kill these strong pests and weeds may be more harmful to other plants and remove nutrients within the soil, in turn reducing the yield of agricultural crops. The benefits of these characteristics are seen in Argentina according to Pelletier (2010) as they use glyphosphate resistant soybean which allowed the comeback of this crop, as the soil was severely damaged from monoculture (The cultivation of a single crop in a defined area).... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Sustainable Agriculture

    2176 Words  | 5 Pages

    Agriculture is one of the most ancient forms of art and science that ties human development and well-being to natural resources and ecosystems. (Fritz J. Häni, 2007) Sustainable Agriculture is the production of food, fibre, plant and animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities and animal welfare. (Sustainable Agriculture - The Basics, 2015) Sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site – specific application that over the long term will:

    Read More

More about Exploring the Benefits and Alternatives of Pesticides

Open Document