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Why insecticides should be used on large scale farms:
Disease Control
-Insects carry diseases that are deadly to humans such as malaria and typhus.
-300 to 500 million people suffer from malaria worldwide, and 2.7 million die from it every year.
-Insecticides kill disease-carrying insects, thereby reducing the cases of human infection.
-Example: During the 1950’s Sri Lanka reported 2 million cases of malaria a year. They started spraying
DDT, and the number of cases of malaria dropped to about 0.
Crop Protection and the Economy
-1/3 of the earths crops are eaten or destroyed by pests, which include mostly insects.
-Using insecticides helps protect our crops, which not only allows us to provide enough food for our growing population,
but it is also good for our economy. Farmers save $3-$5 dollars on crops for every $1 spent on insecticides. Insecticides
are the cheapest method of dealing with crop eating insects.
-A crop field is a monoculture which means that there is basically one main organism for large areas of land. This
makes it extremely easy for pests such as insects to live in. Insecticides help defend an otherwise defenseless ecosystem.
-Use of insecticides increases yield
-Although insecticides can affect non-target organisms if not used carefully, when they are used correctly they will cause
minimal damage.
-Biological insecticides that contain plants, animals, bacteria, and minerals pose a low threat for unintentional damage.
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