Problems with Natural Insecticide

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Problems with Natural Insecticide

10:22 am by webmann in backyard gardening, garden pests

Source: WikipediaNatural insecticide has long been lauded by environmental groups as a safe alternative to synthetics. They kill a variety of pests found in gardens, yards, and homes. However, there are problems with natural insecticide.

Although natural insecticide has been around longer, there is less information on the efficacy of it as opposed to synthetic insecticide. The most information of all of them can be found on Bt and on oils. One problem with Bt is that it is only effective against a limited variety of insects. It makes a good natural insecticide for crops such as corn, but for some other crops, it is useless. Another problem with Bt is that insects become resistant to it over time.

Although a natural insecticide can be effective, it does not have the killing power of a synthetic chemical. Some would say that this is good. The beneficial insects are not harmed and humans and pets are not in danger. The problem is that a natural insecticide is also less effective against unwanted insects.

A natural insecticide will degrade much sooner than a synthetic chemical. Again, to some this is an advantage. It decreases the negative effects of the pesticide on the environment. However, it also means that the natural insecticide needs to be applied much more often. This leads to a greater quantity being used. Overall, it would be a much greater expense, and supplies might be limited.

It might be difficult to switch to all natural insecticide. One reason is that right now, organic farming is aided by the lowered insect population in some areas. This is due to use of high-power synthetic insecticides.

If natural insecticide were introduced to all these regions, the insects might multiply quickly all over the area. The natural insecticide might have a problem keeping up. Eventually, it could work out, as natural predator insects came back. However, right after the changeover, it would be bad. Expense is a limiting factor in the use of natural insecticide. Since a natural insecticide will generally cost more, many people will take the cheaper way out and buy a synthetic chemical. Some do this because they simply don’t understand the difference.

In many countries, farmers have no choice but to use the least expensive insecticides available. These are usually outdated chemicals that have been banned in all the developed countries. However, if these countries don’t use them, they will likely have to go without insecticides completely. There crops will be damaged by harmful insects.

The effects on the countries producing the natural insecticide would be difficult to manage. They would have to devote much of their agricultural resources to growing the plants used for such preparations. Poor people undoubtedly would be exploited in the harvesting of the crop.

So, there are definitely problems with the widespread use of natural insecticide. There are problems with effectiveness. There are problems with making a switch to natural insecticide. Even the production of natural insecticide is a concern. If all these problems can be overcome, a safer food supply can come about.

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Comment by andraz — March 30, 2008 @ 4:46 pm