What are the alternatives to Pesticides?
When pesticides do get into groundwater, the contamination can last many years and spread over a large area before dilution, cleanup usually is impossible. However, federal and most state pesticide laws do not focus on use reduction. A major challenge facing modern agriculture, therefore, is to control pests and protect crop yields without allowing pesticides to contaminate surrounding water sources. The reduction of pesticides use, beside its proper application, seems mandatory to reduce its leakage to the drinking water sources. In several states, there is a real effort to reduce pesticide use in all places where it is used called “alternative agriculture” or “sustainable agriculture”. These terms generally refer to a variety of practices, including crop rotation, integrated pest management, reduced chemical inputs and organic farming. Many of these are centuries-old successful farming practices that were abandoned with the advent of chemical pesticides. References: Richard Wiles, “T
