Agriculture and Pest Control
Pest control has been a part of agriculture for thousands of years. Modern agriculture still uses pest control methods to both protect and improve crop yields, especially as global population growth places more of a demand on food production. Developed countries have used pesticides for many decades to control pest problems, but concerns over the long-term effects of these methods has led to changes in the approach that the agriculture industry takes to address this issue.
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Types of Pesticides Used in Agriculture
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A 1978 report, published by Environmental Health Perspectives medical journal, reflected the findings of a study concerning the use of pest control chemicals in American agriculture. According to this report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted a survey of pesticide usage on farmland in 1964, with subsequent surveys in 1966, 1971 and 1976. These surveys showed pesticide use doubled between 1964 and 1976, totaling nearly 663 million pounds of chemicals used on farms. Three main types of pesticides were commonly used at that time: 41 percent of insecticides for cotton, 54 percent of herbicides for corn, and 84 percent of fungicides for fruits, nuts and vegetables.
Further Study of Pest Control in Agriculture
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A personal paper issued in the 1990s by Theodor Friedrich, an member of the Food and Agriculture Organization's Agricultural Engineering Branch in Rome, Italy, proposed unofficial suggestions for improving pest control methodology in agriculture. This paper reflected concerns being expressed over latent toxicity and shelf-life of pesticides used by crop producers around the world. Friedrich's suggestions addressed these concerns by including concepts for nonchemical application techniques, such as concentrating on crops with higher resistance to pests, improving environmental conditions to foster growth of natural enemies of agricultural pests, and increasing the use of biological products and beneficial insects for pest control.
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Changes in Federal Regulation of Pesticide Use
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The federal government's response to public concerns over the potential dangers of pesticides used in agriculture were reported in a 1995 bulletin issued by the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension and the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The bulletin identified changes in federal pollution controls of water resources relative to pesticides. These contemporary changes included the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA. The regulatory responsibilities of pesticide use were placed under the guidelines of FIFRA and the label on any pesticide was considered the letter of the law.
Newer Ingredients in Pesticides
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, provides a list of new active ingredients in pesticides registered through FIFRA. This list covers all new ingredients developed and approved since 1997, and covers many of the pest control compounds used for agriculture. These include herbicides, miticides, rodenticides and fungicides as well as many insecticides. The fact sheets provide information such as a chemical description, use patterns and formulations, scientific findings, and a special designation for chemicals considered in the reduced-risk category.
Continued Studies of Environmental Impact
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Ongoing concerns of agricultural pesticide use has created a wealth of studies and opinion-based information that tends to suggest the inherent danger of these practices. Although the bias of the authors of these studies and papers must be considered, the similarity of findings may indicate that a continued monitoring of pesticide use for agriculture is necessary to prevent any possibility of contamination of natural resources.
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References
- Photo Credit The Farm image by bonjo from Fotolia.com
