about $4 billion spent on pesticide regulation and controlsDo pesticides get at causes of pest outbreaks, or are they bandaids?
What are the causes of pest outbreaks?
Pesticides do not address these causes. Rather, they are bandaids. When we discuss sustainable agriculture, we will look at some approaches to pest control that try to address the root causes of pest outbreaks.
I am NOT trying to create the impression that pesticides should not be used at all! Rather, I am trying to point out some of the consequences of the levels of pesticide use prevailing today, which may be excessive.
Think about our roles as consumers: Pesticide use is driven in part by farmers needing to achieve yields, but is also driven by the demands of consumers for unblemished fruits and vegetables --
Would people lessen their demand for these perfect fruits and veggies if they understood more completely the actual and potential ecosystem effects of today's level of pesticide use?
An article in the journal, Science from 1991 reported that a survey of Atlanta shoppers found that 61.5% of shoppers would be willing to accept more cosmetic defects to ensure pesticide-free produce, but that only 10% of them were willing to pay more than 10% more for organic produce!
In 1992, it was estimated that each dollar invested in pesticide controls returned four dollars in saved crops. Thus, on the face of it, it would appear that pesticides are cost effective. However, according to an analysis by Pimentel et al. (see 1991 article by them on the supplementary reading list for this unit), this picture changes if one attempts to estimate the dollar costs associated with pesticide effects on human health, water pollution, natural ecosystems, wildlife, soil fertility and structure; interference with natural pest controls and pollinators, and government inspection and controls associated with pesticides. They estimate the following for the US (on an annual basis):
about $4 billion spent on pesticide regulation and controls
about $8 billion in environmental and social costs
about $16 billion in saved crops
Thus, they conclude that pesticides' cost effectiveness is much less than the $4 worth of crops saved for every $1 spent on pest controls, reducing to approximately $3 spent for every $4 worth of crops saved. By this type of reckoning, alternative pest control strategies (including "organic farming") seem less expensive than they appear when environmental and social costs are ignored. (For more, see notes on sustainable agriculture.)
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Page maintained by Patricia Muir at Oregon State University. Last updated July 13, 1998.
