The Realities and Challenges of Crop Protection
Environmental and Public Concern Emerge
By the 1960's,
public concern was beginning to mount over the ecological effects of the
increasing use of some agricultural pesticides. In North America,
one commonly used chemical compound, DDT, was linked to reproductive problems
in the American Eagle population. This finding coincided with the
release of a powerful commentary on the use of chemicals in agriculture,
forestry, and other forms of resource management. Rachel Carson's
Silent Spring noted several cases of chemical use problems, and
suggested that the day was not far off when the living sounds of spring
would no longer be heard.
The release,
and subsequent popularity, of Silent Spring in 1966 is largely credited
with spawning growth of the contemporary environmental movement.
By 1970, public concern for and awareness of environmental concerns had
been significantly raised. In fact, the first "Earth Day," a celebration
of life on the planet, occurred on April 22nd of that year.
Application of
certain chemicals, and the indiscriminate use of others was soon proven
to be ecologically harmful: the use of DDT was gradually banned throughout
North America by the mid 1970's. Today, strict guidelines for the
production and application of most pesticides are in place; monitoring
programs are widely used to track chemical pollution, which typically is
described in either of two ways:
Point
Source Pollution: Coming from specific, identifiable sources.
Non-Point
Source: Coming from a wide range of sources / locations.
No one specific use may be traced as the sole source / location.
| Monitoring Stream Quality |
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While it is acknowledged that there were, and in some cases, still are real concerns over the use of agricultural chemicals, many farmers today are very concerned that many people feel they are causing serious environmental problems, or that they do not care about the environment. In fact, there are a great many farmers who take great pride in their stewardship of earth's resources, particularly soil, water, and wildlife.
| Pesticide Container Management and Recycling has been a Major Success in Manitoba. |
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Avery speaks of "high yield agriculture" to include farming practices which incorporate the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and other inputs necessary to grow the maximum amount of food per acre of land. He views soil erosion and biodiversity as the two biggest environmental issues related to agriculture, and he acknowledges that of all industries, agriculture has caused the greatest change in land use, resulting in soil loss, the destruction of natural areas, and the reduction of biodiversity.
A case in point is Canada's prairie region, where the vast majority of the original landscape which existed prior to European settlement has been altered, causing the loss of soil via wind and water erosion. This has resulted because of conventional agricultural practices which were inappropriate to the prairie environment and which exposed massive tracts of land to the elements through cultivation.
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Biodiversity has
been another casualty of prairie agricultural development. Dozens
if not hundreds of plant and animal species have become extinct due to
our industry's alternation of the original natural environment.
These are the
historical facts. The pace of agricultural land clearing has dramatically
slowed in Prairie Canada, and pesticides have played a significant role.
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