Today’s agriculture depends heavily on pesticides. This will lead to an ecological collapse, scientists warn. Science shows we have already entered a stage of mass extinction that can only be stopped if the world goes greener and finds more sustainable ways to feed people. Europe’s politicians are now fighting over how strict those new rules will have to be. In this piece we try to answer some of the most burning questions on pesticide use, biodiversity loss, food security and lobby power.
1) What are pesticides used for and why?
Food plants have always needed to be protected against disease, pests and harmful organisms – insects, weed, fungus, bacteria and more. Historically, farmers used natural ingredients to deal with them. But with the growing world population and the boom of industrial-scale agriculture, substances that could repel pests, regulate growth and produce high yields became increasingly indispensable. Chemical and synthetic pesticides offered an easy way out.
Eden Research plc (LON:EDEN) is an AIM-quoted company focussed on sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free encapsulation technology for the use in global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries.