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Why do all of our veggies need pesticide.. why don't we just have the patience to wait until tjey grow.. and b regular size like god... it makes me mas how were creating all these uhealthy things in our world for such unnessasary reasons,, instead we could focus on other major issues.
<moved from Astronomy to Agriculture>
We use pesticides to kill the bugs that eat our plants. You see the suffix -cide means to kill the prefix pest- well that's self-explanatory.
Pesticide = to kill pests
Oooo.. well what's that other thing we use to make vegetables or fruits grow faster and larger??
Fertilizer?
Most plants rely on the soil to supply all the nutrients that they need. Sometimes, the soil may not have very much of those nutrients (if you plant the same crops year after year, then the soil runs out of nutrients very fast). Putting down fertilizer is a way of enriching the soil and making the plants grow to their full potential.
If plants grow to their full potential, you get more fruit and you get more money. It's been practices for thousands of years with natural fertilizer (manure). Now it's more likely to use inorganic fertilizers (chemicals). Both have their downsides and can harm the environment if they are not well controlled.
Pesticides is a broad term.Quote:
Originally Posted by martoesh4
In agriculture they broken generally into subgroups. I will touch on some, not all.
Insecticide, as the name decrees it is method for killing insects. This is a tricky group of organisms because we share a common ancestry, they are of course in the same Kingdom (Animalia) as we are. This is an area under harsh criticism in the past (DDT) and still the criticism continues with things like Organophosphates. There is a great deal of effort to reduce any risk to humans or the environment from future insecticides. This being said there are still a great deal of DDT spays in countries, but Malaria is a gigantic killer and the west isn't supplying a new generation of pesticides for the poor at risk of the disease. Organic producers are also not off the hook, products such as pyrethroids and rotenone are accepted in many certification bodies despite their risk to fish and humans as well as bee populations.
Fungicides - These deal with killing fungus and it should be said that this is not my finest subject. I can say that Organic producers have their own fungicides in use such as Bordeaux mix and copper sulfate. These add copper, a heavy metal, which is consequently absorbed into the plant. Captan and other fungicides are commonly used in conventional apple production.
Herbicides - Kills plants, possibly the safest group of sprays. Glyphosate the active ingredient in RoundUp is the poster child for the producers. It is made inactive once it touches the soil and is made of very simple consituents. Now glyphosate resistance is creeping into many fields and new non specific herbicides are being produced. There is the haunting memory of Agent orange which was a byproduct from the production of another class of herbicides and was sprayed all over the jungle in Vietnam. The argument for herbicide use is great. The number of passes required to evoke the same control of weeds is immense. There are some herbicides which are tailored to affect groups of plants and leave the crop plant unaffected. This is a huge advantage and if the chemical is safe it is far better for our current climate struggle than passing the tractor 5-6 times to get the same control.
On the topic of why do we have big and non nutritious veggies. Well this is mostly the breeding. We have been breeding for large showy vegetables. Taste and mineral analysis are secondary characteristics or not under consideartion at all. Disease resistances have helped reduce the use of pesticides but they also came with the cost of taste to the consumer. I grew a beautiful heirloom tomato variety this summer. I only got 2 fruits without fungal damage. They were the best tomatoes I ever had but I would have had to drench them in a fungicide (organic or not) that would ruin my will to eat them.
I hope I have been of some help.
Without pesticide, herbicide, and manmade fertilizer what few farmers are left could not feed this world. Pesticide kills bugs, herbicide kills weeds, fertilize supply nutrients and minerals that may be missing from soil. On smaller scale operations there are things you can do to get by without any of these things, but requires great amounts of work. For bugs there are companion plants that will keep bugs away from veggys. Such as marigolds they keep lots of bugs away when planted close to veggy plants. Wood ash also works to a degree. Various manures are good fertilize. Cow, hog, chicken, horse and so on. Horse manure works best as it is not as high in nitrogen as the others and less likely to burn your crop. Cow and chicken manure should be left to cool off in a compost heap for a few months prior to using, but can be used when fresh, just can't apply much at a time or nitrogen burn will happen. Herbicides can be avoided simply by cultivation or hoeing the soil to keep weeds down.
Well it is quite simple actually, we use pesticides because insects like our vegetables also. And if they eat them, then you won't have as many to eat.Quote:
Originally Posted by martoesh4
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