How Pesticides Change The World

By: Liz Ready

By 2050, humanity must find a way to feed 9.7 billion people as the world population continues to rise exponentially. This means farmers will have to grow an additional 70 percent more food than is currently produced.¹ As land available for crop production continues to decrease and as the world keeps globalizing, we also need to find ways to produce more food with less available resources. One way of doing so is by protecting crops with pesticides.

What are Pesticides

Pesticides are an array of substances, both synthetic and non-synthetic, that are used to control insects, animals and diseases from harming plants and, at times, even ourselves. If you have ever sprayed your yard for weeds or used bug spray to keep away mosquitos, you have used a form of pesticide. Pesticides are more common than people may realize, and it’s important to understand their various roles in our lives. For the purpose of this article though, we will focus on agricultural pesticide use and why its use is necessary to feed the world.

Pesticides Are Safe

Pesticides get a bad wrap. Society says they’re bad for the environment and are often found in or on the food we eat. The good news is that pesticides are highly regulated. Pesticide residues refer to pesticides found in or on our food. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes the limits in which pesticides can appear in our food. The Pesticide Data Program (PDP) provides the research for identifying food that might surpass the limits set by the EPA. The PDP tests around 11,000 products including things like fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, infant formula, oats, rice and even salmon.² Annual PDP summaries consistently show 99 percent of sampled products have residues below EPA limits, meaning our food is safe to consume.³ So if you’ve ever worried about pesticides in your food, rest assured your food is safe to consume.

Pesticides Are Necessary

Pesticides play many roles in crop production. For starters, it helps farmers produce more food per acre. In 1960, one farmer could only feed 26 people.⁴ Today the average U.S. farmer feeds 165 people with the help of technological advances, including that of pesticides. Pesticides control the pests and diseases that can damage crops, which allows for higher yields and more edible food for you and me!

Pesticides also help farmers take care of their natural resources. The most valuable resource any farmer has is their land. If they don’t take care of it, they’re out of a job. Herbicide, a weed controlling pesticide agent, helps farmers reduce fuel usage by 3.5 gallons an acre and decreases soil erosion by up to 90 percent.⁵ The healthier the land, the more productive it will be.

All countries implement different pesticides laws and restrictions, but sometimes it ends up doing more harm than good. India has restricted pesticide use substantially. If those restrictions were to be lifted, Indian farms could earn $300 USD per acre and stimulate the economy in India by more than $400 million USD per year.⁶

Another alarming fact is that 20-40% of crops are lost each year to pests and disease according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization.⁷ There are 795 million people who go hungry each day⁸, so it’s astonishing to think countries limit their food production potential by restricting pesticides that, when used responsibly, could help alleviate hunger around the world. In the United States alone, farmers produce 144 billion pounds of additional food, feed and fiber and stimulates the economy by an additional $22.9 billion because of our pesticide use.⁹

The data proves how impactful pesticides can be. When countries implement restrictions on pesticides, they limit their economies, allow for harmful pests and diseases to spread, and end up producing far less food than they could have otherwise. The question still remains - how do we feed 9 billion people? There is simply no denying pesticides must play a major role in solving our world’s greatest challenge.

Sources:

¹Fast Fact About Agriculture. (2018). Retrieved October 22, 2018, from https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts

² USDA Pesticide Data Program Confirms Food Safety. (2016, January 13). Retrieved October 23, 2018, from http://www.croplifeamerica.org/news/2017/10/26/usda-pesticide-data-program-report-confirms-food-safety

³ United States Department of Agriculture (2015, September). The Pesticide Data Program. Retrieved October 22, 2018, from https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/PDP%20factsheet.pdf

⁴ CropLife America 2017 Annual Report. (2017). Retrieved October 22, 2018, from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59b55b2b37c581fbf88309c2/t/59e603a28fd4d2075f02f5d7/1508246472362/2017+Annual+Report.pdf

⁵ Conservation Technology Information Center. (2015). Retrieved October 22, 2018, from http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/resoucesdisplay/293/

⁶ Foodie Facts From Around The World. (2018). Retrieved October 22, 2018, from https://croplife.org/news/foodie-facts-from-around-the-world/

⁷ Keeping plant pests and diseases at bay: Experts focus on global measures. (2015, March 16). Retrieved October 22, 2018, from http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/280489/icode/

⁸ World Hunger Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2018, from http://www.foodaidfoundation.org/world-hunger-statistics.html

⁹ Gianessi, L. P. (2009, March). THE VALUE OF INSECTICIDES IN U.S. CROP PRODUCTION. Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://croplifefoundation.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/insecticide-benefits-execsum.pdf