The Pesticide Detox : Towards a More Sustainable Agriculture

ISBN-13: 9781844071418 / Angielski / Twarda / 2004 / 314 str.

Jules N. Pretty

Opis

* 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.

Spis treści

Pesticide Use and the Environment * The Health Impacts of Pesticides: What Do We Now Know? * Paying the Price: The Full Cost of Pesticides * Corporations and Pesticides * Overview of Agrobiologicals and Alternatives to Synthetic Pesticides * Farmer Decision-making for Ecological Pest Management * The Human and Social Dimensions of Pest Management for Agricultural Sustainability * Ecological Basis for Low-toxicity Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Rice and Vegetables * Towards Zero-pesticide Use in Tropical Agroecosystems * From Pesticides to People: Improving Ecosystem Health in the Northern Andes * Breaking the Barriers to IPM in Africa: Evidence from Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal * Towards Safe Cocoa Pest Management in West Africa * Agroecological Approaches to Pest Management in the US * Towards Safe Pest Management in Industrialized Agricultural Systems * Policies and Trends * References * Index

O autorze

Jules Pretty is Director of the Centre for Environment and Society at the University of Essex and author of Agri-Culture (2002) and The Living Land (1999).