Why Aren't More Commercial Farmers Using Natural Insecticides?
With all the detrimental findings about the use of synthetic chemicals as insecticides it makes one wonder why more commercial farmers are not opting to use natural insecticides. The health risks to humans and the environment are well known, so why is commercial agriculture dragging its feet on making the switch?
In all fairness there are more commercial organic farmers today than there has ever been. Thankfully this appears to be a growing trend, as more and more people are demanding that their food sources are safe and chemical free. It is not uncommon now to be able to walk into any grocery store and have a wide selection of organically grown produce.
So why are some farmers dragging their feet? There are several reasons and it actually boils down to economics, urbanization, and consumer demand. There is a light at the end of that tunnel and we are already starting to see big changes in commercial agriculture.
At last it seems that science and nature are beginning to see eye to eye at least when it comes to natural insecticides. The scientific community is starting to take a closer look at the properties of plants that have natural insecticide qualities and their abilities to control insect infestations. Many organic farmers have been utilizing these methods for centuries and now that science is taking a closer look at them it seems as if general thought about organic gardening is changing.
One of the problems the commercial farmers face, amongst many, is the need to produce as much yield as possible that is sellable. The average American consumer expects a certain quality and normally will not purchase produce that has any visible blemish so in part they are to blame. Natural insecticides being milder and need more frequent applications, tend not to be effective compared to their synthetic counterparts in producing blemish free produce. So in this case it boils down to economics.
In the past few years the use of natural insecticides is becoming more widespread, and commercially prepared natural insecticides are more readily available to commercial farmers as well as the general public. More and more commercial farmers are beginning to look at natural insecticides as a means for insect control. Once the general public begins to become more accepting of organic gardening methods and natural insecticide methods commercial farmers will no doubt follow suit.
Science is beginning to look closer at plants with natural insecticide qualities and are developing better ways to extract and utilize natural insecticides, for their use on a broader scale within commercial farming. Because of this, it will become more commonplace as time goes on to see more farmers becoming organic ones.
But in the world of commercial farming, as in most any business, it boils down to supply and demand. If consumers demand chemical free produce, that is organically grown, insist that only natural insecticides are used and are willing to pay for it, than commercial farmers will supply it. Once consumers begin to choose regularly organic produce treated only with natural insecticide methods, over produce it has been synthetically treated, the more farmers will turn towards organic farming.
