Robert Van Den Bosch: Stop the Pesticide Conspiracy

(Page 12 of 12)

July/August 1979
By the Mother Earth News staff 
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VAN DEN BOSCH: That's true, and I'd like to stress again—in regard to the changes that I hope will take place—that the strategy of integrated pest management is not militantly against all agri-chemical use. In fact, I cannot conceive of our getting along without at least some chemical pesticides at this point. However, insecticides should—as I stated before be a part of the whole pest management system, but shouldn't be allowed to dominate that system. The dominance of the chemical control strategy has already resulted in disasters economic, sociological, and ecological—and could lead to greater tragedies in the near future.

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PLOWBOY: Then you see the potential for great global ecological problems if the present pest treatment trends continue?

VAN DEN BOSCH: We have already seen the destruction of a $50-million cotton industry in Matamoros-Reynosa, Mexico and the abandonment of a half-million acres of farmland in that country's Tampico-Ciudad Mante region . . . both of these disasters are directly due to the pesticide treadmill effect.

Furthermore—in Latin America, Asia, and Africa-malaria is making a strong resurgence because the mosquito that carries this disease has become resistant to DDT and many other insecticides . . . largely as a result of the excessive use of such pesticides in agriculture.

The signs of breakdown and backlash are becoming very apparent ... and some of us who have been screaming warnings for a long time are beginning to see our predictions come true. Of course, there's no satisfaction in being right, when the proof is so horrible.

PLOWBOY: What can be done to stop the treadmill?

VAN DEN BOSCH: Quite simply, we need to change the world's approach to insect control. That's an ambitious and maybe even arrogant goal, but it must be accomplished. It's absolutely essential to redirect our insect management strategy from a system of chemical control to one of integrated control.

PLOWBOY: And if this change does not take place?

VAN DEN BOSCH: The disaster that we have so far only seen the beginnings of will continue to worsen.

PLOWBOY: Without a doubt?

VAN DEN BOSCH: Without a doubt.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Robert van den Bosch's book, The Pesticide Conspiracy (Double-day, 1978), may be found in public libraries.

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