TECHNICAL
There are also particular situations where the cost/benefit ratio is loaded especially heavily in favour of chemical pesticides by social circumstances and human attitudes. For instance, customers in richer countries have become conditioned to demand that their foodstuffs are unblemished. This means that pests have to be eradicated rather than simply reduced to a level where nutritional, rather than aesthetic or cosmetic harm is negligible.
Figure 4. The records for blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides)within Britain and Ireland since 2010. Map provided by the BSBI 2019 (Botanical Society for Britain and Ireland)
people have been freed from the risk of malaria (Miller, 1988), although, since 1970, malaria has made a remarkable come-back, owing in large part, to the insecticide- resistant strains of mosquitos, leading to an increased emphasis on possible biological control measures.
In summary then, the case in favour of chemical pesticides is that they have worked in the past, as judged by objective measures such as ‘lives saved’, ‘total food produced’ and ‘economic efficiency of food production’ and that they are continuing to do so as a result in advances in the types of pesticide produced and the manner in which they are used. We have also seen though, that many of the disadvantages of chemical pesticides - widespread toxicity, secondary pests, resistance, escalating costs - are undeniable, such that the case for chemical control can only ever be one in which the advantages are shown to outweigh the regrettable disadvantages. These disadvantages are also, and perhaps most significantly of all inherent, i.e. newer and better pesticides may postpone or reduce the effects of these disadvantages (although potentially at increased cost e.g. Acelepryn vs the organophosphate alternative chlopyrifos - Cyren), but they are most unlikely to overcome them. The question, therefore, is
whether or not there are alternatives to replace or use alongside chemical pesticides, and that will be the subject of a subsequent article: pesticides of the future.
References
Carson R, (1962) Silent Spring. Haughton Mifflin, Boston. 16.4
Flint, M. L. and van den Bosch, R. (1981) Introduction to Integrated Pest Management New York: Plenum Press, pp. 240.
Lockhart JAR, Samuel A & Greaves MP (1990). Chapter 2: The evolution of weed control in British
agriculture.In: Weed control handbook: Principle. 8th edition. Eds R J Hance & K Holly. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. pp 43–74.
Metcalf, R. L. (1980) Changing role of insecticides in crop protection.A. Rev. Ent. 25, 219–256.
Miller, G.T. Jr (1988) Environmental Science.2nd edn. Wadsworth, Belmont. 16.6.1 16.6.4 16.7 25.1.3
Strickland, E. H. (1945) Could the widespread use of DDT be a disaster?Ent. News 46: 85–88
T. Dolan, P. Howsam and D. J. Parsons / Water Policy, 2012, Vol 14, No 4, pp 680–693
Pesticides: Code of Practice for using plant protection products, Defra/HSE/WAG, 2006, ISBN 0-85521-170-9, product code PB11090 or PB11090cd for compact disk version:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pesticides/resources/C/Code_o f_Practice_for_using_Plant_Protection_Products_- _Complete20Code.pdf
Wigglesworth, V.B. (1945)DDT and the Balance of Nature, The Atlantic Monthly, 176 (12), 107-113
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