The practice of controlling unwanted pests such as ants, wasps, bees, spiders, silverfish, termites, bedbugs, etc. from places occupied by humans is known as pest management. It might or might not involve the use of chemicals to stop such organisms from invading and causing damage.
The second phase of the 20th century saw significant developments in Indian agriculture. The concept of modernization in agriculture was introduced through the use of high-yielding varieties, intensive farming methods, high fertilizer doses, and chemical pesticides. However, excessive pesticide use, the resurgence of small pests, ecological imbalance, pesticide residue in food, and environmental pollution.
Use of Pesticides for Pests Management
The term pesticide covers a wide range of compounds including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, nematicides, plant growth regulators, and others.
All farmers, even organic farmers, use pesticides. Pesticides are utilized by all farmers, whether they are from synthetic or natural sources. The distinction is that organic farmers are limited to using insecticides obtained from natural sources. However, the toxicity of both artificial and natural insecticides varies.
More than half of our crops would be lost to pests and diseases if pesticides weren't used. Weeds, pests, and diseases cause between 26 and 40 percent of the world's potential crop production to be lost each year. Without crop protection, these losses could easily double.
Benefits of Pesticides
Farmers can produce safe, high-quality goods at reasonable prices thanks to pesticides. Additionally, they assist farmers in producing an abundance of year-round, nutrient-dense crops that are essential for human health. The essential nutrients that come from fruits and vegetables are more widely available and less expensive. Because it is less expensive to manufacture food and animal feed, foods like grains, milk, and proteins—all of which are essential for a child's development—are more widely available.
The main advantages are the results of the pesticides' effects, or the immediate advantages anticipated from their use. For instance, killing caterpillars that are feeding on the crop has the main consequence of higher yield and improving cabbage quality.
Overuse of Pesticides
Heavy treatment of soil with pesticides can cause populations of beneficial soil microorganisms to decline. The soil deteriorates if both bacteria and fungi are eliminated. The misuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has similar consequences on soil organisms as the overuse of antibiotics in humans. Using chemicals carelessly may be effective for a while, but eventually, there won't be enough helpful soil organisms to keep the nutrients in place.
Krishi Jagran organized a webinar on “Disease and Pest Management in Cotton” on 30th July 2022. MC Dominic, Founder, and Editor-in-Chief of Krishi Jagran who moderated the webinar first greeted all the guests and participants. He then gave a small brief on the importance of Disease and Pest Management in the cotton crop.
Taking this program forward, Dr. CD Mayee, President, Board of Directors of AFC India apprised the farmers about the new technology in cotton. He said in the last 4 years, pink bollworm, a disease in cotton, has grown rapidly and due to this, farmers have suffered huge losses. To protect the crop from pink bollworm, farmers must be aware of what pesticides to use.
Dr. Archana Kumari, Regional Director, Pesticide Manufacturers and Facilitator Association of India first thanked the team of Krishi Jagran and said that the problem of pink bollworm is most visible in cotton. She said that in Punjab and Haryana, 80 percent of the crop has been affected by the pink worm on the cotton crop. To prevent this, farmers should use pesticides in the crop as well as use new technologies.
Dr. Babasaheb Fand, Senior Scientist (Agriculture Entomology), Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, Maharashtra said that presently, due to heavy rainfall, both the yield and quality of the crop are being affected. Due to this, the effect of pollinators on the crop increases. Apart from this, he also advised the farmers not to use any chemical insecticides for about 60 days after planting the cotton crop. He said to save time, many farmers use huge amount of pesticides in their crops – this must be avoided.
