4 Reasons Why Pests Increase After Using Pesticides
One of the biggest problems in agriculture is pests. Usually, farmers overcome this problem by applying pesticides to the plants. The goal is to kill pests. However, in reality, frequent use of pesticides actually increases pest populations. This occurs due to inappropriate and wise use of pesticides, farmers' lack of knowledge regarding the calculation of pesticides used to eradicate plant pests.
The following are 3 factors that cause an increase in pests after using pesticides on plants.
Pest resistance to pesticides
Of the many pest populations that exist, there are usually individuals who have genetic characteristics that are resistant to certain types of pesticides. Individuals who are resistant to pesticides will breed into pest populations.
This is often known as resistance , which is a condition where there is a pest population that cannot be controlled by pesticides which should initially function to kill the pest population.
In Indonesia, there are several types of pests that are resistant to pesticides, such as the cabbage pest Plutella xylostella , the cabbage pest Crocidolomia pavonana , the potato tuber borer Phthorimaea operculella , and the armyworm Spodoptera litura.
Some rice plant pests are also resistant to certain types of pesticides, such as the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens), the palm grasshopper (Nephotettix inticeps) and the stem borer caterpillar (Chilo suppressalis). In fact, these three types of pests have increased resistance to pesticides.
With the increase in pest resistance to pesticides, farmers are encouraged to spray pesticides more frequently, even increasing the dose. In fact, excessive use of pesticides can again increase the pest population. In this case, the way pesticides work is almost the same as how antibiotics work.
Pest Resurgence
In the initial stages, its use was quite successful in suppressing pest populations. However, in certain periods, pests can increase because pesticides also cause the death of natural enemies of pests.
This is what is known as resurgence, namely a condition where pesticides, as broad-spectrum poisons, also kill natural enemies of pests, such as pollinators, birds, fish and other natural enemies.
Apart from the death of natural enemies of pests, pest resurgence can also be caused by certain types of pesticides which actually stimulate an increase in insect pest eggs. This has been proven by the International Rice Research Institute against the Brown Planthopper pest ( Nilaparvata lugens ).
The emergence of secondary pests
Through the use of pesticides, farmers may find the pest population decreasing. But behind that, there is something else that is a problem. namely the emergence of new pests that were not previously a problem—after the old pest population is under control.
Certain types of pests can be controlled by natural enemies. However, after applying pesticides to agricultural crops, the natural enemies of the pests die, resulting in the emergence of new uncontrolled pests.
For example, the brown planthopper pest. The brown planthopper itself was only discovered in the 1970s, where there was scheduled use of insecticides, continuous planting of plants, the presence of succulent plants due to high doses of N fertilizer, and the death of the planthopper's natural enemies.
Pesticides flow into waters
The remaining pesticide use can damage the water ecosystem around agricultural land. This is caused by pesticides which make the water polluted. The polluted water then spreads and fertilizes algae in water areas, usually rivers and irrigation.
Because the algae grows abundantly, it is difficult for sunlight to reach the bottom of the water and this results in animals and phytoplankton not getting light. If phytoplankton do not get light, they will die because they will not be able to photosynthesize. If it is a natural enemy of a particular pest, then the pest will continue to reproduce.
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