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Should we be concerned with the extensive use of pesticides by farmers? I believe we should be aware of the consequences of pesticide use. The more we are exposed to pesticides, the greater the risk there is to the environment and our health. They are responsible for many environmental problems such as water pollution, soil degradation, and insect resistance. I will look at all the environmental impacts caused by pesticide use.
But what led to the rise of the use of pesticides? Tremendous increase in crop production, profits, and pest control due to pesticide use are some of the reasons for this increase. There are many theories, which explain the rise of pesticides, and the influence pesticides have had on land use decisions by farmers. I will discuss several theories that try and explain this. Farmers have moved towards different farming techniques such as massive production of a single crop instead of the traditional style of producing several crops. Techniques such as these have resulted from the use of pesticides.
An example of all this is in the Philippines. The government in the Philippines has given considerable attention to the environmental and health impacts of pesticides and has implemented strategies to decrease the impacts. Many empirical studies have been done on the Philippines, and I will look at several of these. Lastly, I will discuss the future research of pesticides and how we are looking towards a decrease in the use of pesticides, and how the amount of pesticide use has decreased in the past twenty years. But firstly, I will explain what a pesticide is. What exactly is a pesticide?
Well, pesticides are chemicals that kill or suppress pests. There are three main types of pesticides: herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Herbicides are the type of pesticides that act against weeds, while insecticides act against insects, and fungicides act against fungi (Reuveni, 1995). There are two classes of pesticides, organic and inorganic. All pesticides are toxic and have some effect on the environment and our health. We are still looking for the ideal pesticide, which targets only the insects we want, and is harmless to the environment.
Pesticides have provided highly effective and relatively easy control of plant pests for the past one hundred years. The first major commercial pesticides were an arsenic compound introduced in 1867 to control insects and a copper-based preparation in 1885 to control fungi attacking grapes (Reuveni, 1995). However, a rapid increase in their use began in the 1930 s and 1940 s following the discovery of synthetic organic chemicals, such as DDT and third. With the discovery of these pesticides, farmers began using them more often. We have been familiar with pesticides for a long time now, and have discovered many benefits a long with many environmental impacts that come along with the use of pesticides.
Chemical pesticides cause widespread environmental problems and are the only toxic chemical deliberately introduced into the environment. Some problems include insect resistance, water pollution, destruction of non-target animals, soil degradation, ozone depletion, and localized pollution (Cooley, 1995; Crissman, 1998; Dinham, 1993; Reuveni, 1995). Over-use of pesticides creates insect resistance, destruction of natural enemies, and a resurgence of pest species leading in turn to increased spaying, which is also known as the pesticide treadmill (Dinham, 1993). A good example of this is in Gezira where they are dependent on cotton production. After World War II, pesticides were introduced in Gezira and the pesticide use increased steadily after the 1940 s. By 1976, pesticide use had reached 2, 500 tonnes a year.
Cotton production costs quadrupled over ten years, while yields fell to the same yields obtained before World War II. After a while, yields ended up being the same because of the pest resistance. The only change in Gezira from World War II till the early 1980 s were the widespread introduction of pesticides. The amount of cotton they produced remained about the same (Dinham, 1993). This shows that over-use of pesticides will take away from the advantages of using pesticides. Another environmental impact caused by pesticides is water pollution.
Residues from the pesticides leach into the water, which are harmful to anything in the water. A study was done for Lake Ichkeul in the North of Tunisia. This is an important bird sanctuary and a unique ecosystem because it is connected to the sea by a narrow channel, and renewal of its waters is rather slow. It also collects water from many small rivers, which cross a densely cultivated area, in which lager amounts of pesticides are used. The study showed after examining the lake sediments and birds eggs that they contained organochlorine and PCB residues (Cooley, 1995). Residues of pesticides have been found in many other bodies of water.
Along with this, a pesticide hasnt been found yet to target only the insect we want it to destroy. So, it not only kills pests but some other non-target animals as well. Fish in the waters that are contaminated with pesticide residues often die leading to a decrease in fish yields and losses of traditional fishing grounds. As well, intoxication of fish, birds, cattle, and wild animals is common during spraying season. The death of birds and fish due in part to pesticides is most common, which has led to bans of certain pesticides in some places (Stevens, 1994). This makes people wonder if its even worth using pesticides.
Soil degradation is another big problem due to pesticides. After pesticides are being used, they stay in the soil in which they were used, which causes the soil to be less healthy. Nutrients are lost in the soils, and certain crops wont be able to grow on that particular soil (Keen 1992). The increase use of pesticides led to more of a monoculture style of farming, which meant that crops werent rotated on the fields. This doesnt leave enough time for the soil to get the nutrients it needs to be considered a good soil. As well, some pesticides are ozone depleted, which contribute to the greenhouse effect.
Apart from large-scale impacts, pesticides cause localized pollution as well. Disposal of unwanted containers threatens both the environment and health. Lack of hazardous awareness and of alternative disposal methods, means that agricultural areas are littered with empty containers. A survey in Paraguay revealed that 24 percent of farmers threw empty containers into streams, sewers, ditches, or drainage channels (Dinham, 1993). All of these are impacts that pesticides have on the environment.
If they are so many detrimental effects to the environment, what then, motivates a farmer to use pesticides on their farm? Pesticides have many advantages that motivate farmers to use them. Pesticides are an important part of the technology used to control plant pests. They can be extremely effective, which in turn leads to an increase in the production of crops (Cooley 1995, Dinham 1993). The more crops a farmer produces means the more money he / she can make off of them. Another factor which motivates farmers to use pesticides is the fact that they are easy to use.
As soon as a farmer realizes that they are fairly simple to use, it will increase the chances they will use them more often. As well, pesticides permit cultivation of crops in otherwise unsuitable areas. If farmers have land that is unsuitable, they see that the use of pesticides will allow them to cultivate on those fields. But the greatest motivation factor that farmers have is the profits they gain from pesticides. The investment of pest control by pesticides has been shown to provide significant economic benefits (Pimentel, 1993). Pesticides provide the producer in North America with a return of three to five dollars for every dollar invested (Reuveni, 1995).
This is more of a profit that a farmer would receive if he / she didnt use pesticide...
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