The Pesticide Detox: Towards a More Sustainable Agriculture [Paperback]

Jules Pretty Obe (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1844071421 | ISBN-13: 978-1844071425 | Publication Date: December 3, 2004

Since the 1960s, the world's population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs arising from widespread pesticide use - massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poisoning and chronic health effects. Whereas once the risks involved with pesticide use were judged to be outweighed by the potential benefits, increasingly the external costs of pesticides, to environments and human health, are being seen as unacceptable. In response to this trend, recent years have seen millions of farmers in communities around the world reduce their use of harmful pesticides and develop cheaper and safer alternatives. The Pesticide Detox explores the potential for the phasing-out of hazardous pesticides and the phasing-in of cost effective alternatives already available on the market. This book makes clear that it is time to start the pesticide detox and to move towards a more sustainable agriculture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Developed in the 1940s, synthetic pesticides were first extolled as panaceas and later excoriated. Their benefits lay in improving countries' economies and in feeding, clothing, and pest-proofing rising densities of people. In the 1960s, public attention turned to their external, largely undocumented costs. Important factor include pesticides' adverse environmental effects on wildlife, human health and reliance on off-farm inputs, and, more recently, genetically modified crops and effects on human use of arable land. Fourteen chapters address the indirect costs of synthetic pesticides, endeavoring to inform the debate regarding how best to produce, sustain, and protect valuable resources. The initial chapter, 'Pesticide Use and the Environment, ' sets the subject; chapters follow on health, costs, corporate involvement, pesticide alternatives, farmers, social dimensions, and commodity/country case histories. With sometimes limited information, authors indicate that the problem is serious, that some progress has been made, and that more efforts are necessary for better remediation and avoidance of past mistakes. Surprisingly, the external costs of rice production in China were calculated to exceed the value of synthetic pesticide use by 86 cents/dollar (value exceeded cost for other countries). Liberal use of informative graphs and tables, a useful index, and extensive bibliographic references enhance the text. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels."-M. K. Harris, Texas A & M University in CHOICE

About the Author

Jules Pretty is Director of the Centre for Environment and Society at the University of Essex and author of Agri-Culture (2002) and The Living Land (1999).

Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844071421
• ISBN-13: 978-1844071425
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,912,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The new pesticide, January 9, 2006

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Reader from Yellow River - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pesticide Detox: Towards a More Sustainable Agriculture (Paperback)

Over the past 40 years, world population, the use of modernized farming methods, and farming production have gone up. Modernized farming uses hazardous pesticides. But does it have to? Where are pesticides used? Are there alternatives? And what can be done to replace pesticides with alternative controls?

More than 800 different pesticides are regularly used throughout the world. They're used to protect crop yields from diseases and pests. Just under 4/5 of all pesticides are used outside the United States. The developing countries are the part of the world where companies plan to hugely increase pesticide sales and use.

But pesticides are damaging to the environment. They're not just hazardous to people who make and use them. Scientists keep on studying the effects of pesticides on animals, birds, bugs, other green things, people, places and water. But the chain of cause and effect isn't always easy to prove, show and tell. That's particularly the case when the audience is people making money from pesticide sales and use!

Editor Jules Pretty says alternatives can replace pesticides. Alternatives can be based on bacteria, certain nematodes, fungi or viruses. They can include parasitoids and predators. When tested with 80 crop combinations, alternatives came up with workable results. Crop yields went up acceptably, with cut-back pesticide use and with alternatives.

Pretty says that what's needed are political will, consumer awareness, and market response. But what can change national policies, international conventions, and programs? Pretty says to start on the level of appropriate taxing, education and environmental action. Specifically, for example, taking away subsidies and putting in effect high taxes would make pesticides less affordable. The list of registered pesticides could be reviewed. The most toxic pesticides could be taken off. Less hazardous alternatives could be added. Also, cooperative extension schools could be set up in the field. Agricultural colleges could have their courseload updated to cover alternatives as well as they're already covering pesticides! All three steps would make alternatives better known. Maximum residue limits could be set, checked and enforced. That would cut down the use of pesticides and increase the use of alternatives.

THE PESTICIDE DETOX is a well-organized and -written book. The editor and the contributing writers include helpful charts, examples, graphs and illustrations. There's a good index and set of references. The subject is now. It's dealt with in such a way that the problems are clear. And there are actually workable solutions! What more could a girl ask?