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Pests and Pesticides

Pests and Pesticides. Since 1960: more food/acre Uses monoculture ; High-input farming Lots of water, pesticides and fertilizer Higher yield per acre. What’s the Green Revolution ?. Groundwater contamination Effects of low concentrations? Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification.

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Pests and Pesticides

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  1. Pests and Pesticides

  2. Since 1960: more food/acre • Uses monoculture; High-input farming • Lots of water, pesticides and fertilizer • Higher yield • per acre What’s the Green Revolution?

  3. Groundwater contamination Effects of low concentrations? Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification The problem with chemicals

  4. Pesticides Pro and Con • Kill unwanted pests that carry disease (rats, mosquitoes, Tse-Tse flies) • Increase food supplies • More food means food is less expensive • Effective and fast-acting • Newer pesticides are safer, more specific • Reduces labor costs on farms • Food looks better • Agriculture is more profitable • Accumulate in food chain • Pests develop resistance – 500 species so far • Resistance creates pesticide treadmill • Estimates are $5-10 in damage done for $1 spent on pesticide • Pesticide runoff • Destroy bees - $200 million • Threaten endangered species • Affect egg shell of birds • 5% actually reach pest • ~20,000 human deaths/year

  5. Biological – Ladybugs, parasitic wasps, etc. • Carbamates effect nervous system of pests more water soluble than chlorinated hydrocarbons • Aldicarb, aminocarb, carbaryl (Sevin), carbofuran, Mirex • Chlorinated Hydrocarbons affect nervous system – • Aldrin, Chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, lindane and paradichlorobenzene • Fumigants are used to sterilize soil and prevent grain infestation Types of Pesticides

  6. Inorganic – arsenic, copper, lead, mercury • Highly toxic and bioaccumulation • Organic or natural – derived from plants such as tobacco and chrysanthemum • Organophosphates – extremely toxic, low persistence • Malathion, parthion, chlophyrifos, acepate, propetamphos and trichlofon Types of Pesticides

  7. Some practices for preventing pest damage may include • inspecting crops and monitoring crops for damage • using mechanical trapping devices • natural predators (e.g., insects that eat other insects) • insect growth regulators • mating disruption substances (pheromones) • if necessary, chemical pesticides Integrated Pest Management

  8. Polyculture instead of monoculture Intercropping – alternate rows of crops that have different pests Planting pest-repellent crops Mulch to control weeds Natural insect predators – ladybugs, preying mantis, birds Rotating crops to disrupt insect cycles Using Pheromones to attract insects to traps Releasing sterilized insects Parts of IPM

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