Pesticides and pests Pests are organisms which feed on crops and plants in order to stay alive. The crops and plants they usually feed on are vital plants which are essential in growing types of fruits, medicines and other resources. To prevent the pests to eat and damage crops, we put special chemicals called pesticides on the crops. Pesticides kill any pests which are feeding on the crop. As easy and danger-free this process might sound, there are indeed a lot of disadvantages of using pesticides.

Disadvantages of using pesticidesThere are quite a lot of advantages, and at the same time, disadvantages of using pesticides. For example, if you get pesticide on your skin, it may cause damage and irritation to your skin. It is also harmful to breath in the pesticide directly, as it may cause damage to your lungs and throat. Pesticides can also cause mass breeds to die quite quickly. An example of this was DDT, a pesticide used in the 1940’s. After spraying DDT scientists noticed the number of peregrine falcons started to fall dramatically. After some research, scientists discovered that, this was indeed, was being caused by DDT. The DDT was infecting the algae, which was then eaten by a water flee, which was then eaten by a King Fisher, which was finally eaten by a peregrine falcon. The infected DDT was being carried within the food chain and was killing the falcons. DDT was finally banned in the UK in the 1980’s after it was proven to be too dangerous and was causing harm to the organisms and environment.

Advantages of using pesticides

Pesticides can be used to help farmers make sure that their crops are always protected from unwanted pests. DDT, even though it did have a deadly impact on the environment, does surprisingly, have quite a big advantage. DDT was quite toxic to mosquitoes which carried malaria. As DDT was slowly killing off the mosquitoes, the disease was not spread that easily. Many people started buying DDT and started spraying it all over their houses and walls, in hope that the mosquitoes carrying malaria would die if it does get inside the house.

Difference between pesticides and herbicides

A pesticide is a chemical used to exterminate pests like caterpillars or ants from damaging crops or vital plants. On the other hand, herbicides are used directly against plants like weed and mainly plants with raw leaves. Both herbicides and pesticides are dangerous and can cause irritation to human skin and possibly damage.

Credits Slideshow by : Zayaan Wasif 9DS