Biopesticides: Nature's Pest Control
What Are Some Issues With Biopesticides?
Plant-incorporated protectants (GM) biopesticides have been hotly debated recently. While GM crops, such as those with Bt genes incorporated in them have proven effective in suppressing pests, many fear that GM crops pose dangers.
Critics worry that modified crops could cross with wild ones and create dangerous new mixes that could grow out of control. Although no studies have shown GM crops to be harmful when ingested by humans, opponents question the validity of these studies and feel that it is too early to truly know the impacts of these crops.
Another concern, specifically with Bt crops, is that insects will develop resistance to the toxin, making them even harder to control. These controversies have led numerous countries to ban GM crops or severely restrict them. The use of conventional pesticides has led to controversies as adverse health and environmental effects of chemical pesticides are discovered. Chemical pesticides have sometimes been found to be unsafe in high concentrations, posing threats to farm workers. Also, some conventional pesticides can greatly harm the environment and neighboring organisms, which can be devastating if that organism is endangered or threatened. For example, some believe that neonicotinoid, a commonly used pesticide , is partially responsible for the declining populations of bees (see the video below). To read more about a protest concerning neonicotinoid:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/245298641.html
The controversies of conventional pesticides have caused organic farming to become widespread, leading farmers to turn to biopesticides, which are considered organic.
Social Issues
Ethical Issues
“In 2011, humanity welcomed its seven-billionth member. At the current birth rate, experts predict we will reach more than 9 billion by 2050. To feed everyone, we’ll need to double the amount of food we currently produce.”
-Monsanto
If farmers cannot find means to effectively control pests and improve crop yields, people will starve. To feed the growing population, farmers turn to pesticides to improve crop yields. However, adverse effects of conventional pesticides have been discovered. Some pesticides can harm human and animal health or the environment. The potential toxicity of pesticides poses another ethical problem. Farmers must not only produce enough food to feed the entire population but must also do so in a manner that if safe to both human and environmental health. Biopesticides are less toxic than conventional pesticides and often just as effective. However, plant-incorporated protectants pose more ethical dilemmas. Some worry that they could breed with wild plants and produce invasive and out of control strains. Others feel that plant-incorporated protectants could pose dangers to human health. Also, plant-incorporated protectants pose intellectual property debates. Some believe that the large companies that develop and sell these modified crops monopolize farming and unfairly benefit from these crops at the expense of small scale farmers.
Legal Issues
Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act the EPA must evaluate any potential pesticides for “unreasonable risks of harm to human health and the
environment” (US EPA) before they are marketed. Therefore, all biopesticides
must be thoroughly vetted by the EPA before they are commercially used. This
process requires extensive studies of the pesticide’s toxicology, residues, and
environmental impacts. Living microbial biopesticides require more extensive testing than nonliving biopesticides because they involve living bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Additionally, the EPA sets tolerance levels of how much pesticide residue can legally remain in foods. Biopesticides often have no tolerance level because they are microbial or biodegradable. Although biopesticides are subjected to the same thorough process as conventional pesticides, they are generally safer than conventional pesticides, allowing the approval process to be much quicker than that of conventional pesticides. Biopesticides, especially plant-incorporated protectants, have great potential for intellectual property disputes. For example, in 2012 a St. Louis federal jury awarded $1 billion to Monsanto in Monsanto v. DuPont. The lawsuit was an intellectual property dispute over a patent infringement of Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” gene. Although Roundup Ready is not a biopesticide, Monsanto v. DuPont demonstrates the potential for costly disputes over biopesticides, particularly plant-incorporated protectants.
Learn more about pesticides at http://prezi.com/57c6p7rqd0ln/pesticides-information/.
Many ask the question (Citation 28)
Neonicotinoids are partially responsible for the decline of bee populations