1. Pesticides

2. What is a pest?
An organism that interferes with human welfare and activities
Insects
Weeds

3. Why do we need pesticides?
Insects eat and destroy crops
Weeds compete with crops
Insects carry disease

4. Benefits of pesticides
Allows more food production
Farmers can save $3-$5 in crops for every $1 invested in pesticides
Protects people from disease

5. DDT used to fight Malaria
Sri Lanka in the early 1950’s, more than 2 million cases of Malaria
Began spraying DDT to kill the mosquitos carrying the disease
Cases dropped to 0
Discontinued spraying and malaria cases jumped up to 1 million per year
Began spraying again and still do in over 20 tropical countries

6. Disadvantages Often kill non-target species Pesticide residue on crops
Persistent in environment- affects animals up the food chain
People working closely with pesticide at risk of health problems

7. Types of Pesticides Chemical pesticides Not naturally occurring Toxic
Persistent in the environment
Affect non-target species
Examples- Crabamate Pesticides, Organochlorine pesticides (DDT), Organophosphate pesticides

8. Chemical Pesticides Crabamate Pesticides Organophosphate Pesticides
Affects non-target species
Affect the nervous system
Effects are usually reversible
Organophosphate Pesticides
Highly toxic
Not as persistent in the environment

9. Chemical Pesticides Organocholorine Insecticide
Very persistent in the environment
Affects non-target species
Effects nervous system
Removed from the market due to health effects
Examples include DDT

10. Organic pesticides Naturally occurring in the environment
Plants have developed natural resistance to pest
Can be used naturally or made synthetically
Easily degradable in environment
Not persistent
Can be toxic to aquatic organisms and pollinators

11. Biopesticides Microbial pesticides
Made from microorganisms - fungi and bacteria
Plant-incorporated protectants
Genetically alter plant to produce its own pesticide
Biochemical
Naturally occurring substances that control pests

12. Major problems with Pesticides
Pest species (plant and animal) develop resistance to pesticides
Pesticides that don’t degrade easily can cause problems for humans and other organisms
Bioaccumulation - build up of pesticides in body
Biomagnification - organisms higher up in the food web have higher concentrations of pesticides in their body

14. Alternative
Integrated Pest management

15. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
A general philosophy of safe & effective pest control that uses several different methods of control to reduce the population of a particular pest
Involves identifying & understanding each pest, its life cycle, breeding sites, and density threshold (# of pests per area that can be tolerated without overall crop damage) & selecting remedies that address the specific pest problem

16. Steps of Integrated Pest Management
Six Steps of IPM
Implement preventive strategies.
2. Scout plants for symptoms or presence of pests.
3. Identify pests and scope of damage.
4. Determine when action must be taken.
5. Implement management strategies.
6. Evaluate results.

17. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Development of resistant varieties: some plants are naturally resistant to insects, some produce their own pesticides, some produce odors that discourage pests, some produce chemicals that interfere with an insect’s nervous system and some contain chemicals that make an insect unable to digest food
Resistant varieties reduce the need for spraying synthetic pesticides
Developing resistant varieties in time consuming & expensive

18. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Use of Beneficial Insects: beneficial wasp species are the most useful insects for controlling the populations of important insect pests such as gypsy moth larvae, cutworms boll weevils, hornworms, and mealy bugs
Introduction of the Paraguayan wasp, a parasite of the mealy bug, helped to protect Cassava (an important food crop in Africa)
Not all insects are good biological controls – praying mantises are not selective & will eat all insects, not just the pests

19. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Microbial pesticides: viruses, protozoa, bacteria & fungi can be used to control certain insect pests
Bacillus popillae is a bacterium that causes milky spore disease in Japanese beetles; it is sprayed on the soil where the beetle larvae live & when the larvae die, the bacterial spores are released into the soil & continue to control the beetle larvae
It is expensive to establish the spores that cause milky spore disease and it is only effective if the entire neighborhood uses it

20. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Biochemical pesticides: use naturally occurring substances that control pests by nontoxic methods, such as pheromones
Pheromones are sex attractants that can be used to bait traps; synthetic sex attractants have been produced and used to control fruit flies in Florida & California
Cannot be used on all species – there is no practical or economical way to hang dispensers containing female pheromones high in forest trees, where they are needed to control gypsy moths
The correct distribution of pheromone is necessary to disrupt the mating process

21. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Cultivation Practices: timing the planting and harvest to avoid pests can reduce damage to some crops
Mixing crops - reduce monocultures
Delaying the planting of wheat prevents Hessian flies from laying eggs on young wheat plants
Plowing under the cover crop residue of cotton eliminates winter habitat for insect pests such as the boll weevil

22. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Synthetic Pesticides: SLAM is a low-insecticide bait made from powdered wild buffalo gourd root and carbaryl insecticide (one ounce per acre); these chemicals are like candy to the rootworm beetle and they eat so much of it that it takes little insecticide to kill them – farmers only spray when needed
Biological controls have significantly reduced the amount of synthetic pesticides used but they have not replaced the use of pesticides entirely

23. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies
Computer Programs: help farmers reduce the amount of pesticides they use
Spraying only when the number of insects will reach damaging levels (not when few insects present)
Spraying only when the insect is in its larval stage (not after the cocoon is spun = too late)

24. Benefits of Biological Controls
Usually cheaper to use than chemical controls
Don’t pollute the environment
Often kill only the pest, not beneficial insects

25. Disadvantages of Biological Controls
Biological controls are often more expensive to develop (must travel to country of origin to find natural predators & diseases – bring back & study under quarantine)
Less profit for companies – companies will not invest time & money on research without a financial incentive
Effective biological controls for many insect pests are not yet available

26. Disadvantages of Biological Controls
Some biological controls require cooperation of surrounding neighbors in order to be effective
Some farmers are unwilling due to the ease of using chemical pesticides
Biological controls are slow-acting whereas chemical pesticides are fast acting