Agricultural chemicals are chemical agents such as fungicides and insecticides to control crop-harming organisms or viruses. People tried to handle this in various ways, such as removing crop debris after harvest and biotic control with the natural enemy like spiders. But we know that those methods don’t sound simple. That’s why, people use agricultural chemicals because they’re more efficient, like they give certain effects with less effort. Some also try chemicals used in organic farming in order to handle this.
Types of Agricultural Chemicals
| Insecticides | Agents for controlling harmful insect pests that damage field crops. |
| Fungicides | Agents for controlling diseases that damage field crops. |
| Insect-fungicides | Agents that simultaneously control harmful insect pests and diseases that damage field crops. |
| Herbicides | Agents for controlling weeds |
| Rodenticides | Agents for controlling rats and other rodents |
| Plant growth regulators | Agents to promote or inhibit the growth of field crops. |
| Attractants | Agents that attract mainly harmful insect pests by odor or other means. |
| Repellents | Agents for having repellent action on harmful mammals and birds that damage field crops. |
| Spreaders | Agents mixed with other agricultural chemicals to enhance the adherence of these chemicals. |
Still, using agricultural chemicals has its own consequences. Like, there are a lot of dangerous agricultural chemicals out there. Maybe countries even put up a strict rules for the banned agricultural chemicals. Why should people actually concern about this issue?
The main reasons are their hazards for human, even for the environment itself. Not just for the consumers though, those hazardous agricultural chemicals could literally be a damage for the farmers who are in contact with them frequently.
So, here is the list of banned agricultural chemicals:
1. Herbicides
Atrazine
Atrazine is herbicide that is used to stop pre- and postemergence broadleaf and grassy weeds in crops such as sugarcane, pine and eucalypt plantations. In 2004, the European Union put it on the banned list. Before that, it was suspected to cause cancer in humans, but still under review in 2003.
People also suspect that they can actually harm reproductive activities as well. From the research, which is quite difficult since merely, the people who live around the farm were man, it turned out to have effects on children.
Maternal exposure to atrazine in drinking water has been associated with low fetal wight, urinary, and limb defects in humans. Gastroschisis appears to be higher in areas where atrazine levels in the water is increasing, especially in the spring, the time when atrazine is commonly applied. Exposure to atrazine also results delayed pubertal development in female rats. To amphibians, it can change male tadpoles into hermaphrodites- frog with female and male characteristic. That’s why atrazine is one of the dangerous chemicals in everyday products
2. Fungicides
- Ziram
Ziram is one of fungicides one of fungicides type, which is thought to be toxic to human. So ziram works as protectant , by covering the plants surface so it can create a barrier between plants and fungus. It can control fungal diseases that may take water supply and nutrients from crop plants such as stone fruits, pome fruits, nut crops and vegetables.
Although it’s helpful for agricultural industries, but it is include as bad pollutant for environment, it can contaminate water for months, because it’s easily chemical compound easily connect to water.
- Vinclozolin
Vinclozolin play as a protectant in agricultural industries. It helps crops to get rid of fungal problem, that can cause crops to die and of course it will also effect on economy. If fungi approaches crops and stick at it, it can “robs ” the crops nutrient, then crops will be malnutrition and leads to death, if lots of crops die because of it, economy loss will be the consequences that will have the most dominant effect. It’s pretty clear why people banned this chemicals from uses.
3. Rodenticides
The usage of rodenticides is to kill rodents. Although rodents are quite important in nature cycle, but sometimes it is still need some control, since it’s one of the harmful chemicals in the environment
- Bromadiolone
Bromadiolone is a kind of anticoagulant rodenticides. It is called as anticoagulant because it works by preventing the body to produce vitamin K which is need for clotting blood. If human consume foods that contain of bromadiolone, it will cause signs or symptoms such as nose bleed, bruise, bleeding gums, bloody urine,hypothermia, depression, lack of appetite and much more. So because it is pretty toxicane, so it will be good if we take distance with chemicals, that is harmful.
Despite those damages that mentioned above, we still can’t just eliminate the usages of agricultural chemicals in agriculture activities. We do need those chemicals in a controlled doses and precautions since they’re quite efficient someway somehow.
Farmers need to use them in order to produce enough food to feed the world. But we need to be aware of what’s dangerous, banned like the examples above and what’s not. We shouldn’t let those ‘savior substances’ turned their back on us. So, how could we avoid that ‘treachery’?
Way to Use Agricultural Chemicals Safely
There are many list of banned agricultural chemicals that people still use and it could be danger for us. Thus, here are the ways to use Chemicals Used in Organic Farming safely:
- Know them well
Have you ever be in a stage of approach to someone that you have a crush on? Like trying to know them, what they like, what are their weaknesses, positive traits, their family, and so on. The same thing goes to agricultural chemicals uses. We need to know them better so that we could treat them in a proper way.
We need to know what are their characteristics, their negative effects, the benefits we could get from them, and so much more before using them.
- Treat them better
After you know a lot about your crush, that he is a responsible man, he doesn’t like you being indecisive, and so on, what will you do? Trying to accept, and meet their wants, right? So, with agriculture chemicals, we got to do the same thing.
We have to find a way to use them so that we could absorb the benefits as much as we could, without harming anything in the process. We need to predict and learn about the allowed doses for us to use, how to apply them, perhaps.
Anyway, even though many people judge that, “chemicals are dangerous, they are bad, ” the truth is we can never stay away from chemicals ever. Sure, there are some poisonous or toxic chemicals, the way we handle it is to reduce the exposure of the toxic one.
However, the toxicity level of a chemicals determined by the doses. Like what we might have known is that the toxicity of a chemicals are not something permanently unchangeable, it depends on the exposure level as well. Overexposure can lead to many signs that shows our body’s rejection.
Overall, don’t throw your agricultural chemicals away. Use them wisely for its benefits, but never forget to look after the precautions. You’d better stay away from banned agricultural chemicals, though. People banned them for a reason, which is for our own safety. Like India, one of the country which have already had List of Banned Insecticides in India