Advantages and Disadvantages of Pesticides: Pesticides are the substance used to kill pests. It can control or vanish pests. But somehow it can effect affect animals and humans also. A pesticide is a chemical or biological agent used to kill unwanted plants, animals, and insects. It affects the ecosystem too. Let us discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pesticides.
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What are Pesticides? what are Pesticides Advantages and Disadvantages?
A Pesticide is a substance that is used to prevent unwanted plants, animals, and other organisms that are harmful to humans, animals, and plants. It is a substance or mixture of substances that are chemically, biologically, or physically made to repellent or destroy the pest. Pesticides are used from ancient times to protect themselves and their crops. some examples of pesticides are herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, insecticides, etc. Here are some synthetic pesticides that are commonly used are DDT, boric acid, malathion, DEET, glyphosate, acephate, diazinon, etc. Herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and insecticides are the main pesticides form used for improving agricultural growth and also for maintenance of buildings, homes.
- Herbicides: These are mainly used to prevent the growth of weeds in the crop field. It helps in disturbing the good conditions requires for the growth of plants.
- Fungicides: These pesticides help in limiting the growth of fungi or killing them.
- Rodenticides: It is chemical substances used to kill rats, mice, and other rodents. Rodenticides are also helpful in controlling birds, fish, and mammals but under the regulatory act.
- Insecticides: It helps in controlling mosquitoes, flies, bugs, and other pests. Insecticides break down their nervous system and fastly control their growth.
These were the commonly used pesticides to inhibit pests. There are also pesticides available to prevent larvae and bacteria growth. But because of the widespread use of pesticides all over there come some drawbacks to using this. According to a study, the major use of a chemical in the agricultural field leads to a chemical in food production, intake of low levels of pesticides are found in food consumed by the people. This leads to harmful effects on humans and animals. Not only by food but humans are also exposed to the chemicals used regularly at homes, schools, offices, and hospitals. Many diseases are caused due to humans by indirect and direct exposure to pesticides. Thus we can see there are many benefits and also side-effects of using pesticides. Let us discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of pesticides:
- Advantages of Pesticides
- Disadvantages of Pesticides
- Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Pesticides
- FAQs on Pros and Cons of Pesticides
Advantages of Pesticides
Here are some advantages of the use of pesticides in agricultural production and at homes or offices,
- Pesticides help in an abundant harvest: By using pesticides it ensures that crop is protected by pests and are healthy for harvest. Pesticides ensure crops are not damaged and not infected by any pests.
- It helps keep food affordable: Pesticides help farmers to grow more food which directly in making food cheap and easily available. whereas the traditional way of removing weeds tends to make food costly.
- Pesticides help to prevent insects and waterborne transmission diseases: Pesticides help in preventing diseases such as malaria, Lyme, etc. It helped in enhancing human health and preventing many diseases.
- Pesticides help farmers to grow more crops in the same or less land: when there are low chances of pests in crop fields then it becomes more chances of more production of crops in the same land. The growth between 40 to 50 per cent of productivity allows farmers to gain more benefits.
- Pesticides helped in making it easy to remove weeds or prevent pests without hardship: Picking weeds by hand was a lengthy process that decreased productivity and also some pests which were harmful to plants’ growth were now easily removed by the pesticides.
- It helped globally to increase the economical growth of a country: The economical growth of a country is very much dependent on the growth of food production and the pesticides help farmers with a healthy yield that helps in improving economic growth.
- It helps to protect the storage: After the harvest, it sometimes becomes difficult to protect the crop from rodents and pests. Pesticides help in preventing pests and storage can be done easily and longer.
- Pesticides help in preventing insects, rodents, and viruses at home, offices, etc: At homes, offices there are so many insects, rodents, viruses that can be harmful to humans by spreading various diseases thus pesticides help them to kill or control these pests.
These were advantages of pesticides, now let us see the disadvantages of pesticides;
Disadvantages of Pesticides
- Impact on human health: By continuous toxic food consumption directly affects the health of humans drastically. so many diseases such as allergy, asthma, cancers are occurred due to the use of harmful pesticides which are found in many forms around us.
- Negative effect on other life species: The chemical kills various pests which damage crops but it also kills some species which can be helpful for crops. butterflies, bees, and other soil organisms are killed when pesticides are applied in the area.
- Environmental pollution: some farmers use an excess of pesticides which pollute not only soil but underground water also.
- Genetic defects: The continuous use of pesticides leads to a negative impact on soil fertility for the long term.
- Affect in pollination: Pesticides affect the way of natural pollination done by bees and butterflies which reduces the crop yield.
Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Pesticides
| Advantages of Pesticides | Disadvantages of Pesticides |
| It helps to grow more food by preventing pests | It increases the danger of impact on human health |
| It helps in making food cheap and easily available | It effect on other life species such as bees, butterflies |
| Pesticides control waterborne diseases and virus transmission | It increases land and groundwater pollution |
| It helps to protect the storage and conserve the yield | Long term effect on soil fertility |
| Contributes to the economical growth of the country by the better harvest | Due to impact on bees and butterflies it affects natural pollination |
FAQs on Pros and Cons of Pesticides
Question 1.
what are pesticides and how they are useful?
Answer:
Pesticides are chemical substances to repel or kill harmful pests. It is helpful in good yield and controlling pests that damage crops.
Question 2.
What are the side effects of pesticides?
Answer:
Pesticides are harmful to humans as they are consumed through food and also harmful to bees and other insects which help in pollination. Excess use tends to have harmful effects on the ecosystem
Question 3.
How can we use pesticides safely?
Answer:
By using protective measures such as gloves, long pants, long sleeves shirts, and washing hands immediately can reduce some harmful effects of pesticides. Apart from that while buying the product we can ensure the ingredients used must be mild elements so that they cannot affect the ecosystem.