Why do companies spray their crops with so many pesticides?
Image by chesbayprogram
A field planted with cover crops shortly after sunrise at Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary
Question by dumdum: Why do companies spray their crops with so many pesticides?
Why don’t we have to cover our fruits and vegetables growing in our backyards with poisons, yet these companies need to cover their crops with poisons? Are pests more attracted to their crops?
Give your answer to this question below!
10 Responses to Why do companies spray their crops with so many pesticides?
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The pests are more likely to attack their crops because of the sheer volume they grow in. Your average backyard vegi garden is not as likely to be able to support an entire ecosystem’s worth of a pest colony because you likely only have a few of each kind of plant. Most pests are attracted to one specific plant, and if left unchecked for a season a pest colony could grow exponentially due to it’s seemingly unlimited food supply.
Big Red Ten
July 9, 2011 at 8:34 am
so the bugs don’t mar the produce. most customers want flawless produce at reasonable price=insecitcides help maintain aesthetics and spray on fertilizer and chemical manipulation of crop also makes it grow faster.
but people who want organic food pay more for produce not tainted by toxins…is why organic food is not uniform in shape, size and has spots.
zoltar
July 9, 2011 at 9:02 am
Increase in crop production…Guess this is why they have the ‘organic’ section at the markets.
seenit
July 9, 2011 at 9:58 am
why are you worried..you dollar is your vote..if you dont approve, dont buy it. why are their factory farms where animals are kept in over crowded cages their whole lives and never see the light of day or grass on their feet? Injected with antibiotics and hormones on a regular basis. Human antibiotic resistance and little girls who star their periods when they are 5 yrs old are proof it is unhealthy. If you dont approve, dont spend your money on that product.
You can change a mans religion before you can change his diet. dont preach..they can educate themselves. In the mean time, purchase with your conscience. that’s all anybody can do if they want to change things. Spend your money on organic family owned farms.
sharliz
July 9, 2011 at 10:13 am
It is about risk.
If one year you find aphids have ruined all your tomatoes, you shrug, say “that’s a pity” and head down to the supermarket to buy some.
If a corporate farm discovers aphids have ruined all their tomatoes bankruptcy and mass redundancies follow.
Sageandscholar
July 9, 2011 at 10:45 am
Google Monsanto – especially see if you can find “The World According to Monsanto” – it will REALLY open your eyes.
mety9799
July 9, 2011 at 11:17 am
the vegetables grown commercially are the product of years of alteration by the farming industry.they are variations of naturally occurring vegetables that grow in the wild,without pesticides they could not defend themselves against being eaten by insects,and as above as big red ten suggests,the area of a garden does not compare to commercial farming.
lazybones
July 9, 2011 at 11:18 am
Because on a large scale, these crops can be wiped out by bugs and so forth. Think of it this way… I am sure that not every one of your fruits and vegetables come out ok. Let us say 1 in 10 of your tomatoes are bad. Multiply that times a million and you will see the results. Pesticides are necessary to protect crops from infestations.
Kenneth C
July 9, 2011 at 11:53 am
What are you talking about??? This year I lost my garden to a possum… next year I’m gonna git him though!!!!
#1 Palin Fan
July 9, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Because they want to squeeze out the most they can, and n ot care about poisoning people. It reminds of US spraying in Colombia where poisons are released into the atmosphere as part of their phony Drug War.
Dr.John L
July 9, 2011 at 1:12 pm