Pesticides profits

Most biological and cultural pest controls return greater profits than pesticides. For example, biological pest controls are reported to return from 30 to 300 per dollar invested in control (16). Various cultural controls like host plant resistance, crop rotations, and tillage, also return 30 to 300 per dollar Invested in pest control (16). 

Future studies must focus on those specific agricultural technologies that have contributed to the increased use of pesticides during the past 40 years, and why crop losses to pests continue to Increase. Research needs not only to identify the detrimental technologies, but, more Important, develop ecologically sound practices that farmers can use as profitable substitutes (15). 

In the USSR it was thought that 1.2-1.3 billion rubles a year were spent on pesticides, while 7-8 billion rubles a year of additional agricultural product were produced (i.e. a 5.8-6.2 ruble return on 1 ruble spent in prices from the end of the 1980s) [1]. However, reality was different. There is every reason to speak not so much about profits earned by pesticides, but about the direct damage to rural and forestlands, to human health, etc. caused by the large-scale use of pesticides. 

Many definitions of sustainable agriculture are reported by literature, but all are related to the basic concept of a profitable crop production with no environmental pollution and depletion of farm and natural resources, including effects on soil, water, and biodiversity (Doran 2002 Francis et al. 2006). Soil solarization seems to fit the fundaments of sustainable agriculture as providing an effective and environmentally safe control of many soilbome pests and more competitive market positions and higher prices to pesticide-free products. 

Yield is not the only indicator of farm productivity. Inputs used to deliver those yields should also be considered, and can be in the form of materials, as discussed below, but they may also be in different forms. For example, one way to manage soil fertility and pest problems on organic farms is to employ a different rotation from that on conventional farms where synthetic fertilisers and pesticides can perform those tasks. Because of the difference in rotation, which may also mean a larger diversity of crops, the whole farm needs to be considered when determining productivity and profitability. 

The benefits of pesticides are social and economic. Social components are human health, availability of food, quality of life, and protection of the environment. Economic factors are loss of harvest, profitability of agriculture, and revenue of the industry. Some social factors are directly related to economic factors. If a farmer cannot make a living on his farm, he and his family must leave the land and migrate to the city, a process that occurs very frequently everywhere in the world. If the agrochemical industry does not make a profit, the factories must close down and the employees lose their jobs. If food becomes scarce prices go up and people with low incomes cannot afford a balanced diet or may even starve. 

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