Chemicals in agriculture

Table of Contents

• Part 1: What are the different chemicals used in agriculture?
• Part 2: Why do farmers use pesticides? What are the issues related to using them?
• Part 3: How do farmers apply pesticides? (VIDEO)
• Part 4: Are chemicals such as pesticides used in agriculture safe? For our food? For the environment?

Part 1: What are the different chemicals used in agriculture?

The different types of chemicals used in agriculture are:

• Herbicides (To kill weeds)
• Insecticides: (To kill bugs)
• Fungicides: (To get rid of disease)
• Soil fumigants, desiccants, harvest aids, and plant growth regulators
• Natural pesticides: Pesticides are not limited to conventional agriculture. Organic farmers also use a wide variety of natural pesticides to control weeds, insects, and disease. You can learn more about that here.

The term “pesticides” means “to get rid of pests” and refers to all of these groups at once. 80 percent of pesticides in the U.S. are used on the following crops (in order of use): Corn, soybeans, potatoes, cotton, wheat, sorghum, oranges, peanuts, tomatoes, grapes, rice, apples, sugarcane, lettuce, pears, sweet corn, barley, peaches, grapefruit, pecans and lemons.

Pesticide usage by crop (Source USDA)

Pesticide use (see chart below) peaked in 1981 and has been on a slow decline ever since. Reasons for the initial rise include no-till agriculture, herbicide resistant crops, and crops like corn and soybeans being planted over more acres. Reasons for the decline include more effective pesticides, better application technology, genetic engineering (GMOs) and new production methods like cover crops. (This is further explained in Part 2)

Part 2: Why do farmers use pesticides? What are the issues related to using them?

Part 2 is answered in another one of my blogs that you can read here: Why do farmers use technology like GMOs and pesticides? (Benefits) What are the issues? (Costs)

In summary:

Benefits: Increases yield potential, allows a farmer to farm more acres, protects the soil through no-till and conservation methods

Costs: Weed resistance, greater pesticide use, large companies benefit, environmental concerns

Conclusion: Farmers (both conventional and organic) must use pesticides in order to produce enough food to feed the world. Pesticide use peaked in the 1980’s and will continue to decline as farmers and scientists develop new and more effective methods.