Sustainable Commercial Vegetable Production with Minimal Use of Synthetic Fertilizers and Pesticides

Pesticides, Fertilizers and Food Safety

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers deplete soil nitrogen: a global dilemma for sustainable cereal production.

Cereal production that now sustains a world population of more than 6.5 billion has tripled during the past 40 yr, concurrent with an increase from 12 to 104 Tg yr(-1) of synthetic N applied largely in ammoniacal fertilizers. These fertilizers have been managed as a cost-effective form of insurance against low yields, without regard to the inherent effect of mineral N in promoting microbial C u...

Pesticides and Health in Vegetable Production in Kenya

This paper investigates the determinants of pesticide-related cost of illness (COI) and acute symptoms, using a balanced panel of 363 farmers interviewed from seven major vegetable producing districts of Kenya. Finding shows that the incidences of pesticide-related health impairments have increased. Variation in number of symptoms and symptom severity significantly explained COI. The personal p...

Perceptions of Environmental Effects of Pesticides Use in Vegetable Production by Farmers in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Farmers’ pest management practices, awareness and their perception about the effects of pesticides’ use on the environment were discussed in this study. Data were collected from the vegetable farmers who operate along the banks of the rivers, streams and dams at the outskirts of the city. A purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from 128 vegetable farmers who use pesticides in ve...

Effect of reduced risk pesticides for use in greenhouse vegetable production on Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

BACKGROUND Bumble bees [Bombus impatiens (Cresson)] are widely used for supplemental pollination of greenhouse vegetables and are at risk of pesticide exposure while foraging. The objective of this study was to determine the lethal and sub-lethal effects of four insecticides (imidacloprid, abamectin, metaflumizone and chlorantraniliprole) and three fungicides (myclobutanil, potassium bicarbonat...