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Understanding Pesticides and Monocultures for Sustainable Farming

Explore the world of pesticides and monocultures in farming, from what they are and how they are used to their impact on the environment and food production. Discover the advantages, disadvantages, and the importance of biodiversity in protecting harvests from pests and diseases. Learn about genetic resistance, the pesticide treadmill, and the tradeoffs involved in pesticide use.

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Understanding Pesticides and Monocultures for Sustainable Farming

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Good morning! • Please get out objectives #1-3 for a stamp. • Make sure your food journal is up to date.

  2. Pesticides – “To use or not to use?”

  3. What you already know about pesticides . . . . • What is a pesticide? • How are they used in general? • What did we learn about monoculture crops and pesticides yesterday? • How are they used in Houston? • How are they used in our homes? • Do YOU ever come into contact with them? • What are the advantages/disadvantages?

  4. Monocultures • What advice would the Inca have given the Irish?

  5. Pests and diseases generally are plant-specific. • Examples – • Boll weevil attacks cotton plants • Rust fungus attacks corn • Yellow rust fungus attacks wheat

  6. Diversity protects harvests from pests and diseases because they run out of food.

  7. Monocultures are like a banquet!

  8. Pesticides can move through the environment • Monocultures are often crop dusted by planes. • If it rains soon after application, pesticide can runoff into local stream.

  9. What happens in a farming community’s watershed? • Where would the greatest concentrations of pesticide be?

  10. Biomagnification: the accumulation of a toxin as it moves up the food chain

  11. Genetic Resistance • Individual pests can tolerate different amounts of pesticide. Some individuals are stronger than others and they can survive.

  12. The pesticide treadmill • Pests develop resistance to pesticide • Farmer must use Increased dosage, application schedule, increased toxicity • It’s like a treadmill because once a farmer starts, it’s hard to stop using pesticides.

  13. The Tradeoffs! • Advantages • Disadvantages

  14. Why are monocultures unsustainable?

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