To Bee, Or Not To Bee
There has been quite a lot of fuss over recent months about the use/licensing of pesticides by the EU. Or the wisdom of their use in general. There's the Monsanto weedkiller Glyphosate - there's a petition to get it banned, or at very least severly restricted. There are the neonicotinoid pesticides - were banned in the EU, then UK gave them a one year 'period of use', now there is pressure from some to extend that to a two year period. Meanwhile there is great pressure to reinstate the ban.
Apparently neonicotinoids, which are used to coat seeds to prevent pest damage in storage, persisit into the grown plant and into any flowers. Thus they are picked up by the ever reducing number of bees and other pollinating insects. Pollinating insects on which the otherwise treated crops depend. Come to think of it, apparently 30% of all crops grown are dependent upon there being an adequate population of pollinating insects. Looks like you can't use 'neonics' to protect your seed crops in storage and have pollinating insects for when they're growing! Hmmm.
Of course there are other ways of doing things. In many cases the 'pest' insects have other creatures:- insects, mites, fungi, which predate them. We've all heard about ladybirds eating aphids - I'm currently awaiting the local ladybird population to tend my rose. Meanwhile I'm squishing any greenfly I come across.
We may have all heard about the Encarsia wasp which predates whitefly. Thus commercial growers of whitefly-prone crops, eg: tomatoes, tend to stock their glasshouses with Encarsia wasps every year. We may know about the nematode parasites we can buy to water onto our vegetable plots, which parasitise slugs. And we've all heard about, maybe even seen, thrushes and hedgehogs in action, though these are a lot harder to get hold of. Just imagine, mail-order hedgehogs for slug and snail problems!
Other countries are also getting in on the 'pest of the pest' act. Kenya is at the forefront of this sector. Kenya exports millions of pounds worth of agricultural products to the EU - from fresh fruit and vegetables to fresh flowers. These are grown by hundreds of farmers. As the EU has increasingly banned or restricted the use of chemicals in farming, Kenya's farmers have had to follow suit to continue selling their products in Europe (best-priced markets). Consequently companies which research, develop and breed 'pest of pest' biological controls are also developing. The companies do their own research, source agents locally and develop their own production technologies. They also employ local people.
One drawback is that it can cost twice as much to treat a crop with bio-control agents than with chemical pesticides. Thus they tend to be used on 'expensive' cash crops - eg: those sold to the EU, like roses or green beans. I suppose bio-control production prices will come down, eventually. You never know, the production and use of chemical pesticides might fade away too (even with Monsanto's lobbying), which will be better for the environment. Then, maybe, ordinary Kenyans will be able to benefit from pesticide-free crops too.
Right, I'm off to check my rosebuds. The ol' finger-and-thumb-pinch is also bio-control of pests.
Y'all have a good day now!
Apparently neonicotinoids, which are used to coat seeds to prevent pest damage in storage, persisit into the grown plant and into any flowers. Thus they are picked up by the ever reducing number of bees and other pollinating insects. Pollinating insects on which the otherwise treated crops depend. Come to think of it, apparently 30% of all crops grown are dependent upon there being an adequate population of pollinating insects. Looks like you can't use 'neonics' to protect your seed crops in storage and have pollinating insects for when they're growing! Hmmm.
Of course there are other ways of doing things. In many cases the 'pest' insects have other creatures:- insects, mites, fungi, which predate them. We've all heard about ladybirds eating aphids - I'm currently awaiting the local ladybird population to tend my rose. Meanwhile I'm squishing any greenfly I come across.
We may have all heard about the Encarsia wasp which predates whitefly. Thus commercial growers of whitefly-prone crops, eg: tomatoes, tend to stock their glasshouses with Encarsia wasps every year. We may know about the nematode parasites we can buy to water onto our vegetable plots, which parasitise slugs. And we've all heard about, maybe even seen, thrushes and hedgehogs in action, though these are a lot harder to get hold of. Just imagine, mail-order hedgehogs for slug and snail problems!
Other countries are also getting in on the 'pest of the pest' act. Kenya is at the forefront of this sector. Kenya exports millions of pounds worth of agricultural products to the EU - from fresh fruit and vegetables to fresh flowers. These are grown by hundreds of farmers. As the EU has increasingly banned or restricted the use of chemicals in farming, Kenya's farmers have had to follow suit to continue selling their products in Europe (best-priced markets). Consequently companies which research, develop and breed 'pest of pest' biological controls are also developing. The companies do their own research, source agents locally and develop their own production technologies. They also employ local people.
One drawback is that it can cost twice as much to treat a crop with bio-control agents than with chemical pesticides. Thus they tend to be used on 'expensive' cash crops - eg: those sold to the EU, like roses or green beans. I suppose bio-control production prices will come down, eventually. You never know, the production and use of chemical pesticides might fade away too (even with Monsanto's lobbying), which will be better for the environment. Then, maybe, ordinary Kenyans will be able to benefit from pesticide-free crops too.
Right, I'm off to check my rosebuds. The ol' finger-and-thumb-pinch is also bio-control of pests.
Y'all have a good day now!