With the application of pesticides on our everyday food including fruits and vegetables, these products can pollute our air and water supplies with carcinogens simultaneously harming resident wildlife in the surrounding area. Pesticide use was the only way to ensure the protection of produce products, that is until the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center suggested an original natural pest control in the form nematodes. Nematodes are pest-killing round worms. These round worms can take care of costly pest infestations effectively, and as the adult nematode reproduce offspring, the cycle continuously renews itself as the nematodes begin to search for a new pest. I believe this form of natural pesticide will positively affect the environment while resulting in a reduction of pollution chemical pesticides create. "We cannot keep producing chemical pesticides," Dr. Grewal, a nematologist from The Ohio State University, says. This natural form of pesticide will eliminate the potential pollution chemical pesticides can inflict onto the environment. As the nematodes are further introduced into the agricultural world, it can only result in a greater knowledge of chemical pesticides harmful effects and future development of other natural forms of pesticides to protect our health and the environment.
www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0704-natural_pest_control.htm
What happens when the nematodes become the pests themselves? Not because they eat the plants but because many people will overlook the environmental benefits and balk at eating vegetables that were grown with microscopic, insect-devouring worms to protect them. Although the nematodes are already present in the environment (page 1 of the article), most people remain blissfully unaware. If farmers voluntarily supplement the soil with them and the nematodes receive a lot of publicity as a "new pesticide," it may cause squeamish people to purchase vegetables grown with chemical pesticides to avoid nightmares of worms squirming around, killing other nasty bugs right next to the food. Also, if the "beneficial" nematodes have to be added to the soil, obviously there aren't enough of them present to begin with. This means that adding too many of them (especially because they can lay 200,000 eggs in a day, page 1 of the article) could cause an imbalance in the ecosystem, resulting in a major decline in the amount of insects. While this is the purpose of the nematodes and good for our vegetables, it is potentially harmful to other species that rely on insects for food such as bats, birds, and spiders.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to mariah's comment,
ReplyDeleteThe nematodes themselves will stay microscopic so the thought of people becoming off-put by the fact that there are now more bugs on or around the food that they eat is unlikely.
In response to Ameber's post,
Personally i think that the idea is very good, but one of the reasons that companies continue to use pesticides is because they are cheaper to use. so my question is if a company decides to use the nematode idea will it benefit the companies wallet as well as have a positive effect on the enviroment, otherwise the company will just go back to the cheaper way and continue with no regret.