The Pesticide Detox

by Pretty, Jules N.

• ISBN13: 9781844071418
• ISBN10: 1844071413
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-04-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

* Exposes the massive hidden health and environmental costs of rampant pesticide use * Presents an array of cheaper, safer alternatives to pesticides used by millions of farmers around the world * Written by leading international agricultural and biological scientists supported by The Global Integrated Pest Management Facility of the FAO Since the 1960s the world's population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third, largely because of widespread pesticide use. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs -- massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poisoning and chronic health effects. Yet in recent years millions of farmers in communities around the world have been identifying harmful pesticides and developing 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.

Author Biography

Jules Pretty is Professor of Environment and Society, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	vii
Preface	x
Acknowledgements	xix
List of Terms, Acronyms and Abbreviations	xxii
1 Pesticide Use and the Environment	1	(22)
Jules Pretty and Rachel Hine
2 The Health Impacts of Pesticides: What Do We Now Know?	23	(16)
Misa Kishi
3 Paying the Price: The Full Cost of Pesticides	39	(16)
Jules Pretty and Hermann Waibel
4 Corporations and Pesticides	55	(15)
Barbara Dinham
5 Overview of Agrobiologicals and Alternatives to Synthetic Pesticides	70	(13)
David Dent
6 Farmer Decision-making for Ecological Pest Management	83	(14)
Catrin Meir and Stephanie Williamson
7 The Human and Social Dimensions of Pest Management for Agricultural Sustainability	97	(19)
Niels Röling
8 Ecological Basis for Low-toxicity Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Rice and Vegetables	116	(19)
Kevin Gallagher, Peter Ooi, Tom Mew, Emer Borromeo, Peter Kenmore and Jan-Willem Ketelaar
9 Towards Zero-pesticide Use in Tropical Agroecosystems	135	(12)
Hans R. Herren, Fritz Schulthess and Markus Knapp
10 From Pesticides to People: Improving Ecosystem Health in the Northern Andes	147	(18)
Stephen Sherwood, Donald Cole, Charles Crissman and Myriam Paredes
11 Breaking the Barriers to IPM in Africa: Evidence from Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal	165	(16)
Stephanie Williamson
12 Towards Safe Cocoa Pest Management in West Africa	181	(12)
Janny G.M. Vos and Sam L.J. Page
13 Agroecological Approaches to Pest Management in the US	193	(19)
Carol Shennan, Tara Pisani Gareau and J. Robert Sirrine
14 Towards Safe Pest Management in Industrialized Agricultural Systems	212	(14)
Stephanie Williamson and David Buffin
15 Policies and Trends	226	(12)
Harry van der Wulp and Jules Pretty
References	238	(47)
Index	285