Advantages And Disadvantages Of Integrated Pest Management

10. How might insects develop a resistance to Bt toxins? What ecological risks would this have? What could be done to combat this, and do you think that it would be effective?

However, agriculture is the central issue. While pesticides are being used to keep crops alive, a benefit to farmers, the natural ecosystem is not exactly experiencing the same effect; the ecosystem is being destroyed. An effective way agriculturists can improve on decreasing the amount of pesticides is to use continuous production, where it is reusing the fields, without wasting and hurting them.

| Monsanto continues to develop and market new dual genetically engineered products which offer protection from insects and herbicides.

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) (Winter 1992). Malathion Insecticide Factsheet. Journal of Pesticide Reform 12(4). Retrieved May 4, 2008, from

Herbicides and pesticides are not a natural way to achieve a beautiful lawn, contrary to what lawn care companies would like people to believe. They are broad-spectrum biocides, and by their very nature can harm organisms other than the targeted species (Dieglman, 1996).

In the early 1940’s, a new technology emerged that was able to successfully combat crop-damaging and disease-carrying insects. A new age of synthetic chemical pesticides use arose. After their impressive success in fighting deadly insect-borne diseases during World War II, pesticides were used widely to combat insect pests for agriculture and public health. Few people challenged the benefits of the new scientific and technological products and many embraced pesticide use with enthusiasm. Despite its success, doubts about pesticide use began to appear a decade later in the 1950’s, when the government began a vigorous pesticide campaign across the country against insect pests. Scientists began reporting heavy losses of avian and

Entine states, “…we are dependent on synthetic, as well as natural, chemicals for treating disease and improving both longevity and the quality of life. Both natural and synthetic chemicals are integral to all aspects of modern life” (bish 13) In other words, these processes are not something that can be avoided, as they are standard procedure. Use of pesticides is for the safety of those who consume the food often. When discussing Glyphosate, there is no clear cut answer. Tension and confusion continue to grow, partly due to common chemophobic tendencies. While the definitive conclusion on the product is not clear, the inclination to expect the worst is revealed. As the safety of the product can be seen as evidence to support the safety of Glyphosate, there can at least be a consensus that more research should be conducted before defaulting to fear and

However, pesticides are used to control pests, which include insects, mice and other animals, unwanted plants (weeds), fungi, or microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. Often misunderstood to refer only to the insecticides, the term pesticide also applies to herbicides (that control weeds), fungicides (that control fungi), and substances used to control other pests. In addition, because many pests tend to travel between farms, resistance to pesticides can evolve at an inefficient rate. Farmers can increase the economic efficiency of chemical use by adapting integrated pest and resistance management practices, such as rotating crops and pesticides, reducing reliance on a single pesticide, adjusting planting and harvesting dates, scouting fields, and using more benign, and biological control

Genetically modified foods are altered so that there are genes within them which are not normally found in their organic counterpart. These crops have benefits such as reducing the need to use pesticides which differ from normal organic crops which highly depend on them. For example, a GMO's called BT-Corn has built in bacteria called Bacillus Thuringeinsis (BT) which produces a crystal protein that acts as a pesticide within the crop's cells. The protein is selective and is toxic to harmful pests but to many beneficial species such as bees and butterflies, are harmless. When the protein is produced, as soon as a pest ingests a sector of the plant containing it, the pest will die within hours.

Genetically modified crops are being developed to produce their own pesticide. This will bring the rapid appearance of resistant insects. Even worse, these pesticide producing plants have killed some beneficial insects and pests that many farmers use in their crops. For example, inserting a gene from a snowdrop, a perennial herb found in Europe and Asia into a potato, made the potato resistant to the green fly, but killed lady bugs that feed on green flies.

CropLife America, a chemical association, argue, “chemicals like chlorpyrifos aren’t really so harmful” (Lappe). In addition, if there wasn’t any pesticides then how would there be control unwanted insects that spread other diseases. Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency

Since the beginning of time, people have had a few basic needs. Somewhere to live, and most importantly, something to eat. Nature works within a very delicate balance, and one of the biggest challenges we face is the battle to keep our food supply plentiful and safe. Various plants, animals and other organisms can threaten our food supply, along with our health and comfort. When they display a threat we consider them to be pests, and their impact is never taken lightly.

In 2011, more than 66 million hectares of GMO plants were grown throughout the world. These plants were “engineered to produce a bacterial toxin lethal to some insects but harmless to people,” (Carrington 1). By altering the plant’s genes, scientists were able to design the plant in a way so it could control the pest population without the need of using as many chemicals in comparison to pesticides. Therefore altering the plant’s genes proves a method for controlling pest populations because it reduces the amount of harmful chemicals that are used. Pesticide use is dangerous to the environment because of the pollution involved. Studies have found that farmers using GMO seeds use 37% less pesticides, and since “these seeds don’t need to spray as much pesticide, which means less pesticide ends up washing off the fields and into streams” (Horowitz 2). Ultimately, pesticide pollution can endanger entire ecosystems and even threaten human lives. By significantly reducing pesticide use, there would be less dangerous chemicals to threaten local environments. As well as reducing pollution, GMO replacement of pesticides helps increase populations of pest predators. Carrington states that GMOs have the “added benefit of looking after the predators that could have been killed by the pesticides” (2). By substituting GMOs for pesticides, which kill more than just the targeted pest, farmers can help

PEST is an acronym used for companies with in the political, economic, social and technological views. PEST allows companies to view and observe certain areas that might have been overlooked. The company I will be discussing the PEST analysis is Target. Target is a large scale company and is constantly changing in the industry. The political views of Target is that they must have an unbreakable bond with China due to majority of its products coming from that country. They must be aware and stray away from any conflicts because it can create a negative affect in the operation of Target. Also the company is altered by taxation, tariffs, cost, and trade restrictions especially when they're trying to broden outside the United States. The economic

pesticides end up ruining the complete area and stripping it of the natural beauty of the land. The