Are we encouraging stength to attacking pests on plants. vegetables etc,,, by spraying them with chemicals?

Question

By the very nature of evolution, are we not making a rod for our own backs? Should we not just live and let live? Surely we can still produce sufficient food from a less invasive approach to controlling pests. We might be giving them super powers by spraying with chemicals, The atmosphere around our plants changes, as does the plants respiratory system, by coating it with crap!

Answer 1

Sure. The application of pesticides is bound to produce resistant pests and pathogens eventually. However, resistance takes time to develop; by this time, a new class of pesticide or a new pathway for attacking these problems may be developed. In this manner, we have managed to keep ahead of the bugs for over 60 years. Still, some types of pests- mainly whitefly- have proven to be remarkably quick to adapt to new pesticides.

None of this means that other novel approaches cannot be used. For example, in the burgeoning organic foods market, a number of "integrated pest management" or IPM solutions have been developed. In these, a naturally occurring fungus, bacterium, insect, or other organism is found that attacks a given plant pest. It is left to biologists to culture large quantities of these organisms, which are then released to attack the pests. In some cases, they can be highly effective; in general, they are not a 100% solution. The perfect fruits we demand in the grocery store are more expensive, as there are fewer of them to harvest.

Not all pesticides are bad. The ones that are marketed today are highly regulated, and much safer than those available even 20 years ago. They must meet stringent guidelines for safety before they can be sold and used. While I generally agree that pesticides should be kept to an absolute minimum, those that are used today will degrade faster in the environment and provide fewer possibilities for damage to humans, animals, insects, etc. than ever before. There's still room for improvement.

Answer 2

If we did not control insects and plant pests we and probably the majority of the world would starve. Locusts for instance can strip a field in a few minutes.

There are other ways. Many British farmers now use the two ploughs width method. The field is ploughed and sown normally. Then two plough widths are ploughed around the field. The outer plough width is not treated with anything. The inner plough width is only treated with mild chemicals. The main crop is only sprayed if a large infestation occurs and that means in most cases it is not sprayed.

Insects and pests live in the hedgerow and first ploughed width and not in the crop. It really does work!

By the way this is a far more successful and conservation friend method than a lot of the organic methods.

Organic farmers tend to use smaller fields and are allowed to use what are classed as natural insecticides in fairly large quantities. Natural insecticides sound good don't they? Well the same insecticides sprayed on non organic crops are limited by law to much smaller quantities because they are deemed to have a limit on safe dose!

Two Plough Width is the way to go.

Answer 3

The answer to this question is YES! Insects are r-selected species, meaning that the breed very rapidly and as such there is a rapid turn over of genes. This gives the genes a distinct advantage in that they are able to mutate quickly and thus adapt to new environmental conditions (i.e pesticides), I know there are examples of this phenomenom out there but I can't remember what they are off the top of my head!

For this reason, chemical companies are constantly searching for new novel ingredients. In the 1950's they used to find 1 in a 1000 novel molecules was an effective insecticide, now that has risen to 1 in 250 000 (1999)

At the Rio Earth Summit in the 1990's the idea of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was accepted. This basically encourages farmers to use pesticides only where absolutely necessary or where the cost of the damage is greater than the value of the crop-it might not be e.g. if you find a single bug in a field is that single bug going to cause extensive damage to your crop or would it be better to just leave alone and only spray when the situation is serious (this is known as the economic injury level).

The good news is that many people are now using natural alternatives such as eucalyptus (one of the most effective insect repellents known), lavender (another good one) as well as peppermint, citronella, neem and many others.

Answer 4

Yes. We see this happening with bacteria all the time. We attack them with new anti-biotics and soon they grow resistant and we have to find a new way to fight them. So over time insects will get used to our insecticides. That's why Integrated Pest Management is a good thing. Using chemicals is not all bad, but they can be reduced by introducing organisms which help to control pests. Lady bugs can be used to control Aphids for example. The problem with IPM becomes selecting the right organism for the job. In my area Asian Beetles (look like lady bugs) were introduced to control pests. However the Asian Beetle is an alien species so it had no natural predators. Now homes are over-run with these smelly pests. So a delicate balancing act must be done. But nature seems to do a good job at balancing things if we let it. Picture this. We spray a bunch of chemicals until we force a pest insect to adapt. Said insect then is able to increase in population (damaging more of our crops), but nature kicks in and the organisms that prey on the pest insect are able to feed as much as they want, thus become for fit and their population increases as well. Finally the helpful organisms population becomes so large that they consume all but the last of the pest population. Therefore both organisms population drops off sharply and we're back to square one. It all comes down to carrying capacity for the environment.

Answer 5

Glue traps for mice help administration roaches. they're pre-baited, non-poisonous, and there is not any smell (until eventually you get those that contain anesthetic). inspite of small toddlers, you could keep them in some difficulty elements like less than the range, refrigerator, and sinks. I keep a sprig bottle of Windex, diluted dish cleansing soap, or maybe hand cleansing soap round in case I see a roach or ants. I desire spraying over smashing. it truly works quick; roaches are lifeless interior 30 seconds or so in case you hit them precise. (It apparently clogs their spiracles and suffocates them.) you in straightforward words could be speedy or precise because they run like mad after the first hit. Comet purifier is meant to form a barrier that ants received't bypass, yet i'm wondering which will be about as poisonous as indoor chemical spraying. someone said utilising chalk. do not overlook that chalk can contain lead, which isn't secure in any volume for toddlers or pregnant women persons, no matter if ingested or inhaled. and considering it really is kept in bone, lead would pose a chance for destiny toddlers that an uncovered lady would conceive down the line. there are various tremendous thoughts right here; i have discovered plenty!

Answer 6

Since these organisms are found right from a comet to a underwater volcano. They thrive with and without oxygen, on organic or inorganic matter. No matter what we do insects/microbes lived before us and will live after our extinction!!!
Besides we are encroaching on their living space and not the other way round.

Answer 7

I agree with Don.
Let me ask you this,
"If we stop all chemicals on crops/plants, what do you think would happen to world food production? Please do take into account the ever rising human population."

Answer 8

unfortuantly the human specis is very selfish and it will be our undoing. to spray or not to spray is hardley the question