It's the 21st century, why do we still use pesticides?
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.
There is much concern among consumers about food safety. We question the ways in which food is produced, and we tend to focus on the very beginning of the food chain: the crops on the fields. It seems that the pesticides farmers use to spray their crops with are especially called into question. And it is not surprising to see the media publicize statements such as “pesticides are harmful to man and the environment and they may even cause illness” – though too often without founded arguments.
Farming without pesticides yields much less than conventional farming - 20 to 50 percent less in the case of vegetables, up to 60 to 70 percent less in the case of cereals, and even 75 percent when potatoes are involved. Moreover, organically grown crops are more labour-intensive and require more arable land than conventional crops.
So, speaking of a healthy diet and the cost of it, it seems that using pesticides to protect crops is the better choice if we want to promote a large consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables also among those people who find it difficult to make ends meet.
The following links lead to websites offering a wealth of information about food, its nutritional value and its costs:
