Are there any alternatives to using pesticides?

Question

I means envirommentally friendly alternatives

Answer 1

Biological controls, like using ladybirds to eat the aphids, covering the leaves with soapy water as the soapy water precents the animals from breathing through its spiracles or you could go round and destroy the animals/pests by hand.

Answer 2

what are you trying to kill?  boric acid and sugar will just about do in any bug that needs water to survive. it causes them to dehydrate. it is h**l on roaches. mix 50% boric acid and 50% sugar put in a jar lid and push it under the fridge or under anything so as not to let you pet eat it. i have had mine to eat some of it but never hurt just made them thirsty. hedge apples will run off spieders, soapy water will bring down about anything that flies,won't kill them but will take the wind out of their sails,espacially bees

Answer 3

By using integrated pest management (IPM) and best management practices (BMP) a grower can limit the amount of pesticides used.  These management techniques use economic thresholds meaning a pest (insect, pathogen, weed) population must rise to a certain level before control measures are used.  These levels can be pests per plant, per acre, or some other measured standard.  This also protects beneficial insects such as ladybird beetles and lacewings.

Pesticides are not the root of all evil.  When properly used they are safe and effective in controlling pests.  Agriculture could not survive without pesticides.  If you want really expensive food and clothing then try and ban all pesticides.  Most pesticides are too expensive to over use and that is another reason for IPM and BMPs.

Answer 4

Yes.

Beneficial insects

Crop rotation

Hand picking

Trap cropping

Row cover/exclusion

Natural pesticides: Neem, pyrethrum, soap sprays, water, garlic sprays, spinosad, kaolin clay spray, dorment oil, wood ash, diatomacious earth.

Answer 5

Bt corn is a gentically modified crop that has the naturally occuring soil oganism bacillis thuringes incorporated into it's genetic structure and makes the plants resistant to insect damage.  Since it's naturally occuring, for many years Bt has been widely accepted by organic gardners as a natural insecticide.

Answer 6

You can use biological controls like ladybugs, parasitic wasps, lacewings, and hover flies.  All are great at getting rid of pests and they are good for the environment

Answer 7

mix a tablespoon or so of liquid dish soap with a quart of water, and spray the plants with it.  You can also add hot pepper sauce or red peppe powder to this soap mixture also.

If you are looking for an insect repellent to put on your skin, try vanilla... it works great.

Answer 8

We should avoid the use of the term pesticide, and use specifics like insecticide, rodenticide, herbicide, fungicide.

Answers that are useful for dealing with insects are clearly useless as herbicides, or fungicides.

Crops can be destroyed by a fungal infection too.

Weed control is right up there with insect control, perhaps ahead of it in terms of kg of product used. We are using herbicides to allow no-till farming that has done so much to reduce erosion, has allowed for lighter tractors because we are doing less tillage, and so contributed to less soil compaction.

We know that the alternative to herbicides is tillage, return to loss of soil from wind and water erosion, breakdown of soil structure, So let's have an alternative that is better!

The hoe, a great solution, as long as you are wielding it.  We have reduced farm populations today to the point that this is not possible.

Next best solution might be nothing going to market?

Answer 9

most pesticides will hve no effect on the plant