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Microbial Pesticides
| Article
# : |
16696 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1989 |
2,005 Words |
| Author
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Anthony M. Shelton and H. Alan Wood
Anthony M. Shelton is associate professor of entomology at
Cornel University's New York State Agricultural Experiment
Station in Geneva, New York. H. Alan Wood is a virologist in
the plant protection program of the Boyce Thompson Institute
for Plant Research in Ithaca, New York. |
Since the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, there has been a growing awareness and concern surrounding the potential hazards of the 3.5 billion pounds of pesticides used in the United States each year. Through the media, the public has been bombarded with reports that a particular pesticide residue was found on a food crop or is contaminating a source of drinking water. In the spring of 1989 the pesticide Alar gained such widespread notoriety that U.S. grocers prominently displayed "Alar free" signs in their produce section.
Actual and perceived hazards of pesticide residues have led to a general lack of confidence in the safety of all pesticides and the implementation of many new federal standards for their use. However, our present agricultural system, with its built-in dependence on chemical pesticides, carries enormous resistance to movement toward more environmentally neutral alternatives. Our agricultural system requires chemical pesticides for it to continue to produce abundant and low-cost foods with high nutritional value, and with the cosmetic properties demanded by most consumers. Although many may argue that it is highly desirable to produce the nation's food crops without chemical pesticides, this is not presently feasible. Despite the current use of pesticides in agribusiness, plant pests destroy an estimated 20 to 30 percent of our food crops each year. To meet the challenge of pest control without the potential of environmental and health problems, the commercial pesticide industry and agricultural researchers are actively exploring new pesticide strategies.
Among the new pesticide strategies in agriculture and forestry is the use of naturally occurring biological agents, such as insects and fungi that
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