The Issues of Pesticides.

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Toby.N.

The Issues of Pesticides

        Pesticides are chemicals that destroy pests, weeds and diseases. The yields of crops may be dramatically increased when pesticides are used. Pesticides can be split into categories that are specific to the type of organism they are used to control:

  • Insecticides, for the control of insects.
  • Herbicides, for the control of weeds.
  • Fungicides, for the control of fungi.

Many Farmers use pesticides to encourage healthy crop growth, prevent weed growth and prevent damage by pests and disease. This boosts commercial value of the crop but may mean the crops are not as healthy to consumers because traces of the chemicals are left in the plants.

        The use of chemicals to protect crops is not a new idea. Three thousand years ago sulphur was used by the Greeks to kill pests, and the Chinese used arsenic in AD 900. (Food, Farming and the Environment, Damian Allen and Gareth Williams, 1997)

        

        There are obvious advantages to using pesticides. The most vital of these is the effect on global food production. Estimates of the pest problem on a worldwide scale suggest that, without insect pest, world food production could be increased by about a third. As this represents the loss without current control measures, it would clearly be catastrophic for mankind if control of insect pests were not attempted or should fail. (Pest Control and It’s Ecology, Helmut F. van Emden, 1974)

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        Pesticide application has been responsible for great increases in UK farm yields over the past fifty years (Ecology and Conservation, Fred Webber, 1994). Also Farmers can now protect their crops. Some crops can now be grown in areas or times of the year when before they could not be grown because of the presence of a successful pest, weed or disease (Food, Farming and the Environment, Damian Allen and Gareth Williams, 1997).

The fact is that without the use of pesticides the global food production would fall drastically to a point at which it was too low to feed ...

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**** A good summary of some of the key issues in this complex topic. Some specific relevant examples described in a little detail would have improved the quality of this essay. Some of the information sources are a little dated.