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03/27/2003 |
| A popular shift to use botanical pesticide |
| THE haphazard use of chemical pesticides has given rise to many well-known and serious problems, including genetic resistance of pest species, toxic residue in stored products, increasing cost of application, and hazards from handling the insecticides. It has had harmful effects on the environment as well as humans and on livestock, prompting many countries to ban the use of pesticides. |
| These problems have increased the need for effective, biodegradable
pesticides with greater selectivity, and alternative strategies that
include the search for new types of insecticides and the re-evaluation and
use of traditional botanical pest control agents. Local agricultural
entomologists, pathologists, nematologists, and other researchers from the
University of the Philippines in Western Visayas and Panay State
Polytechnic University are jointly implementing a project funded by the
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources
Research and Development, an agency of the Department of Science and
Technology, to develop product concepts for pest control using ethno
botanicals. Potential plants have been selected for this purpose, based
on availability and on the presence of highly active ingredients which can
also be extracted from them. As organic pesticides gain popularity,
farmers can expect botanical insect repellents which will promote balanced
and self-regulated agricultural systems that are less costly to farmers
and less harmful to humans and the environment. |
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