Why are pesticides still needed in today’s agriculture?

It is easy to forget that our food faces many attacks from pests such as insects, fungi and weeds, during the farming cycle. For example, at the garden level it is easy to observe damage that different pests can do to plants, fruits and vegetables. Applied to the whole agricultural and farm level, the damage caused can be very important in terms of yields, of quantity and quality of food to be available on the market, and in terms of farmer’s income. In order to produce sufficient safe and healthy food of high quality it is necessary to tackle such pests.

Crop protection combines innovative science and technology to protect farmers’ crops from the many dangerous pests and diseases that threaten the quality and safety of foodstuffs. Without adequate use of pesticides, farmers would quickly find their crops infested, diseased and damaged making them either low in yield or unmarketable. Farmers could therefore suffer significantly reduced incomes or go out of business.