Advantages Of Pesticides In Agriculture

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.

This scholarly text book, part of a series called Current Controversies, is composed of primary sources taken from a diversity of informational categories including books, newspapers, periodicals, international government documents, and the publications of organizations. The authors in this series examine some of the issues that typical arise in the debate about pesticides, including whether they are detrimental to human health, animals and the environment, whether they are essential to curtailing international hunger, and what the future of pesticides might be. This book widely mirrors the mosaic of opinions in both parts of the debate regarding the benefits and harmful effects

The pesticide industry rose to fame in the period of World War II where numerous chemicals being used in warfare and they were found with capabilities of killing insects. Insects were being used as experiments while testing the chemicals that were being used to kill other humans. In the middle of 1940, because of the poisonous nature of some pesticides, though still effective and good played a very great role towards agriculture, the federal government managed to respond by initiating some few regulatory rules. This paper is aimed at analyzing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that are used in pesticides, it will also provide some threats that pesticides pose on the environment’s well-being, as well as human’s, and will

To begin, Pesticides are used to kill insects and unwanted bacteria that destroy the growth of crops. Everyone becomes directly or indirectly affected by these chemicals. Unfortunately, society came up

This paper argues that there needs to be a greater harmonization of legislation regulating highly hazardous pesticides used in agriculture within all nations. With the numerous studies conducted illustrating the harmful effects to human health and environment, this stricter control of legislation across developed and developing countries is of utmost importance. This requires each nation to have a complete understanding of the methods and practices used to regulate pesticides in other countries and work together to converge the various approaches. It is the role of the government to find a responsible balance between enabling judicious pesticide use where such use is necessary to achieve desirable crop production levels, and reducing the

Rather, the responsible way to solve this problem is to find a “happy medium” wherein food production and people’s livelihoods are not damaged while also looking out for the safety of those that have to handle these pesticides. In the US, this is done by a strict level of government oversight and regulation of pesticides by the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency studies pesticides and their potential harms to humans, wildlife, and plants, as well as possible contamination of groundwater. On top of all this, a pesticide must first be registered before it can be used. This is done through a process that looks at “Ingredients used; the particular site or crop where it is to be used; the amount, frequency, and timing of its use; and storage and disposal practices” (“Pesticides”).

Pesticides are not new. Crops have always been subject to pests and diseases as well as other natural occurrences such as bad weather. In earlier times people had no access to machines and other inventions to make farming more efficient. They faced famine if crop yields were weak multiple years in a row. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) writes that the first recorded use of pesticides was 4500 years ago by the Sumerians. Mr. Giotto, a history teacher at Bay Trail Middle school describes them as “the first people to migrate Mesopotamia, they created a great civilization.”. They used sulphur compounds as a natural pesticide, and this could be why they were so great in the first

Have you ever watched a child starve to deat? Watch them take their last breath on this earth. Have you ever watched your own family starve to death knowing there’s nothing you can do? Well no longer will you have to see millions die of starvation, because scientists have discovered the holy grail of modern food. They have found a way to not only make food taste better but make it healthy for you.

“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life” (Wendell Berry). This quote highlights the importance of the soil as the all-encompassing bridge between life and death and how vital it is to us, especially when it comes to hunting and gathering and growing the food we need to survive. Why change something that works? The agricultural revolution was a great tragedy in the history of the world, bringing about bodily changes, health defects and diseases, and a disparity of the sexes.

Pesticides are normally misused by people with little knowledge or care for their harmful effects. Without effective enforcement of regulations, pesticides are easily spread beyond their projected areas. According to research, the overuse of pesticides causes many human diseases, animal diseases, and disruptions in our ecosystem. Well defined regulations, along with consumer education, could limit the misuse of pesticides and protect our fragile pollinator populations from continued decline to help ensure future food sources for many generations to come.

“A Who's Who of pesticides is therefore of concern to us all,” said Rachel Carson, American marine biologist, conservationist, and author of Silent Spring, “If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones - we had better know something about their nature and their power.” Pesticides are typically used to get rid of pests on crops or even in a person’s home. Despite the great work pesticides do for crops or getting rid of pests in the home, they have many adverse side effects on human health. Pesticide can cause cancer, birth defects and disorders in children and infants, and contain many dangerous chemicals. (Howard, 119)

The increase in desire for perfect produce, drives the need for pesticides today. Much debate of the effects of chemicals used on commercial crops and overall long term effects on humans is an increasing concern. With the increase in advertising of organic produce, many standards of farming have been criticized. Many are claiming a large increase in risk to humans for consuming commercially grown produce, because of the chemicals used to manage such a large volume of crops. There have been many debates of the actual risk of pesticide consumption. With advancing technology and farm equipment, many types of chemical sprays and powders have been used. The actual effect of these pesticides and long term exposure can be harmful to human health.

Although a vast increase has been seen in the enactment of pesticide legislation worldwide, it remains absent in approximately a quarter of countries in Africa and the Southeast Asian region . Where present, regulations often lack comprehensiveness and the capacity to enforce these effectively. Conversely, developed nations are increasingly implementing more stringent legislation.

In 1985, almost 1,000 people got sick from watermelons with residue from the pesticide Temik. Pesticides are toxic chemicals that are used on crops to keep insects, rats, weeds and fungi away. Without them, defenders argue, modern agriculture would be impossible; the anti-mosquito pesticide DDT has saved millions of lives and the bubonic plague was conquered by an anti-rat pesticide. Environmentalists, however, point to the health risks pesticides pose and question whether the pests will become immune or not to these toxic chemicals. Perhaps the problem really stems from the modern practice of planting one crop across many acres, which is like setting a banquet for the pests that feed off of these crops.

One concern about pesticides and herbicide usage is the amount of residues left on the end product of crops sprayed with the chemicals, and their effects on human health. (Williamson, 2007, p. 184). However, these effects are closely tested and levels are strictly regulated to ensure there is no danger from possible pesticide residues. Since 1910, many rules, regulations, and agencies have been formed to monitor the safety of the pesticides and herbicides used in conventional farming. These chemicals must meet specific safety standards in order to be registered for use, and regulations on levels of each product safe for use are also put in place. (Tafel et al.,2007, p.184). All pesticides are rigorously examined to ensure they have no significant effects on human health, or the environment. The residues in the food chain are closely monitored, and regularly tested, to ensure they are below legal limits. In a recent survey of residues