The Future Role of Pesticides in US Agriculture (2000) / Chapter Skim
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1 History and Context
1 History and Context
Pages 17-32
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From page 17... ...
The entry of the terms into the language coincided with and was occasioned by the introduction and adoption of chemical agents and today these terms are used almost exclusively to refer to chemical agents that kill pests. It is important to define the terms precisely and to use them consistently; the definitions will affect the changing status of pesticides in regulatory contexts and their economic impact in the broader context of US agriculture.
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From page 18... ...
Pest status does not adhere to taxonomic lines; some families of insects, for example, have members that are pest species and others that are regarded as beneficial (the beetle family Coccinellidae, for example, includes economically damaging herbivorous crop pests and predaceous biological control agents)
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From page 19... ...
The use of microbial pesticides is an example of how nonchemical control techniques can have greater similarities to chemical control techniques than to other, more natural measures of pest control. For the purposes of this report, we use the FIFRA definition of pesticide with a clear extension to encompass biopesticides (which include microbial pesticides and plant metabolites (box 1-1)
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From page 20... ...
HISTORY OF PEST CONTROL From their earliest days agriculturists have been beset by pests. Carvings dating back to 2300 BC in tombs in Egypt, one of the centers of plant domestication, depict locusts eating grain.
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From page 21... ...
In the classical era, however, people began to take it upon themselves to rid themselves of pests, and pest-management practices are described in several of the more utilitarian writings that survive. From those texts, for example, Theophrastus' Enquiry into Plants, it is apparent that the ancients had a good grasp of many concepts of pest ecology that herbivorous insects are host-specific, that population sizes depend on climate and geography, and that there is intraspecific variation in susceptibility to particular pests.
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From page 22... ...
raises the possibility that alarm pheromones or insect pathogens were exploited for control purposes. Europeans did little to advance the front of pest management after the collapse of the Roman Empire; classical authorities were dutifully copied and knowledge progressed slowly.
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From page 23... ...
Most of the magical practices fell into abeyance and were virtually forgotten. By the beginning of the 19th century, the pest controller's armamentarium was restricted primarily to botanical preparations, elemental sulfur, oil soaps and kerosene emulsions to combat insects, and lime and sodium chloride for weed control.
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From page 24... ...
Sodium chlorate was used to control deep-rooted perennial weeds in noncrop areas and in small patches of field bindweed in cultivated fields; borates were found to control weeds without the flammability of the chlorates and are still used under asphalt to prevent weed growth (Timmons 1969~. The compound that in 1942 dramatically illustrated the value of synthetic organic compounds for weed control was 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)
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From page 25... ...
In 1959, the first insect pheromone, bombykol, was characterized; by 1966, the sex pheromone of the cabbage looper Trichoplusia ni, a pest of several row crop species, was identified and ushered in an era in which pheromones have been exploited for trapping, mating disruption, and monitoring of pests. Advances in insect physiology allowed the development of control chemicals targeted at disrupting hormones that regulate insect growth, such as methoprene, a compound that works as a juvenile hormone analogue to interfere with maturation.
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From page 26... ...
Endrin All uses canceled 1985 Ethalfluralin Benefits exceeded risks; additional data required 1985 Heptachlor All uses canceled except homeowner termite control 1988 Linuron No regulatory action needed 1989 Methyl bromide Annual production and use limited to 1991 levels; use to be terminated in 2001 1993 Mevinphos Voluntary cancellation of all uses 1994 Monocrotophos All uses canceled 1988 Parathion Use on field crops only, under EPA review with toxicity data requested 1991 Propargite Registered use for 10 crops canceled, use for other crops remains legal 1996 Toxaphene Most uses canceled except emergency use for specific insect infestation of corn, cotton, and small grains 1982 Trifluralin Restrictions on product formulation 1982 2,4-D*
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From page 27... ...
Historically, various agencies in the public sector (such as the US Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and land grant universities) have been extensively involved in · Research, development, and testing of pest controls.
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From page 28... ...
The table reveals that only 11% of the funded studies involved agriculture, and less than 4 % involved agricultural pests or pesticides. Advances in science that provide alternatives to chemical controls and that lead to greater understanding of how chemical controls work have changed the atmosphere in which public research decisions are made.
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From page 29... ...
Source: Pesticide funding data from Nancy Ragsdale, USDA-ARS, 1999. In light of shifting priorities in pesticide research and management policies, the USDA and EPA requested the National Research Council convene a committee of experts to address the future role of pesticides in agriculture and the nature of research that would be required to support development and use of new chemical pesticides.
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From page 30... ...
of total NSF projects related to agriculture and pesticides. DEB accounts for 1,576 (3.68%~.
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From page 31... ...
1996. Ecologically Based Pest Management: New Solutions for a New Century.
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From page 32... ...
1999. Agricultural Research Service mission.
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