THE word “pest” refers to any unwanted plants (weed), animal (e.g. insects) or disease causing organism, which adversely affects man, his animals and crops among other things. In an effort to protect his food from destruction, man in the past had used traditional (non-chemical) methods, however, he is now fighting the battle with chemicals pesticides (agrochemicals). These are applied to crops from germination right through to harvest time which is dangerous to human health and the environment, very often with little or no knowledge of the effects of these substances like the dirty dozen (e.g. monocrophus).
Most persons rely on chemical control for reducing pest populations, ignorant of or in favour of the other methods. Proper pest management however requires the combined application of all available measures.
The focus in pest management has invariably been on reducing the population of pests. In this regard, many farmers aim for eradication, which is generally not possible. The aim should be to manage pests, keeping them at levels that are not likely to cause economic damage. The objective of crop production should be to profitably produce healthy, wholesome food. In our effort to make farming a profitable venture, we must however not loose sight of the fact that what we produce must be safe to consume.
Our production effort should also not cause harm to ourselves as farmers, other farm workers, and people living close to farms, consumers or the environment. Pesticides are poisons and can become more hazardous by improper reading of the labels and use. It is important that the user, whether farmer or spray operator, is fully aware of the potential hazard of products. The commonly accepted measure of toxicity for any chemical is the LD50 (lethal dose 50).This is the dose of chemical required killing 50%of the animals under test-usually rats. The lower the value of the LD50 the more toxic the chemical, since it requires less chemical to kill. I also take this opportunity to inform the Toxic and Pesticide Board that more and more dangerous and illegal chemicals are being sold here on the Essequibo Coast without a relevant license being issued by the Board.