Is Chemical Pest Control A Good Thing? Introduction Pests are organisms that reduce the quality or yield of a crop

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Title: Is Chemical Pest Control A Good Thing?

Introduction

Pests are organisms that reduce the quality or yield of a crop. Many crop pests include aphids and caterpillars; however slugs and snails also cause a lot of damage. Pest control involves Biological, Chemical and Physical processes.

Plants which are grown closely together may cause the rapid spread of fungal diseases and insect pests, from plant to plant, which soon affects large areas and causes heavy damage in a short period of time. It is important to control unwanted organisms, such as weeds, pests and insects that generate diseases from fungi and viruses, in order to obtain a harvest of high quality.

* Biological Pest Control

Biological control does not use any chemicals. It involves other organisms that are predators or parasites of pests. E.g. Greenhouse infested whitefly is where the predatory wasps are introduced. The wasp lays eggs into the scale (larva) of the whitefly. A young wasp emerges from each larva, having used the larva as a nutrient supply. The whitefly young are killed, so its population decreases.

Genetic Engineering can also be used. A gene must be transferred to a potato plant which enables them to produce a natural insecticide. This destroys 50% of aphids that attack the plants. Therefore the amount of damage is reduced.

> Advantages of Biological Pest Control

* This method is very specific and will only affect the pest chosen to be eradicated.

* Once the system is introduced, the control of organism establishes itself and does not have to be reintroduced.

* Pests do not become resistant to biological control.

* There are no concerns about damaging the environment.

* It needs fewer applications and therefore can often be cheaper than chemical control.

> Disadvantages of Biological Pest Control

* There is often a certain amount of time difference until introducing the control organism to significantly lower the number of pests. This process is relatively slow.

* The biological control programme usually keeps the number of pest at a low level; it rarely eliminates the pests completely.
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* The control organism may become a pest in its own right. E.g. Aphids are controlled by ladybird beetles.

* Chemical Pest Control

Pests and weeds can be controlled with Chemical Pesticides. Pesticides are sprayed onto the crops to kill the pests. These chemicals kill Insecticides, which are used to fight insect pests. Fungicides, which target the fungi and causes many plant diseases. Herbicides are the ones that kill weeds.

Most of the insecticides now applied are synthetic compounds that affect the nervous system of insects when come in contact. The most effective include DDT ...

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