Plants survive because of the sun and animals owe their survival to plants. Plants upon which humans and animals depend for life are susceptible to 80,000 to 100,000 diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma-like organisms, rickettsias, fungi, algae and parasitic higher plants. Approximately 3000 species of nematodes attack plants and more than 1000 cause serious economic plant damage. Of the one million species of known insects, about 10,000 contribute to devastating crop losses worldwide.
Pests are organisms that are competitive to mankind or its interests in some manner. Pesticides are agents employed by humans to destroy and control pests. The term “pesticide” includes insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and other types of pest controlling substances.
Worldwide, about 3 billion kilograms of pesticides are applied to crops each year at a cost of almost 40 billion US dollars. Of this amount, approximately 500 million kilograms of more than 600 different pesticides are being applied in the United States alone at a cost of 10 billion dollars. In fact, despite the vast increase in the volume of toxic pesticides used over the past 30 – 40 years globally to control crop diseases, the amount of crop losses due to pests has increased from 31% to 37% and, despite a 10-fold increase in pesticide usage in the U.S. from 1945-2000, crop losses from insect damage have doubled from 7% to 13% (Pimental, Pan-UK 2003).
This ever increasing use of toxic petrochemical based pesticides is taking its toll on personnel as well as the environment. The EPA estimates 300,000 farmers and workers were poisoned last year in the U.S. Worldwide, pesticides cause 26 million reported cases of non-fatal poisoning each year (Richter, 2002) of which 3 million require hospitalization, 750,000 come down with chronic illnesses and 220,000 are fatally afflicted (Hart and Pimental, 2002). The unreported case numbers are believed to be much higher.
Around the globe, scientists are searching frantically for alternative methods of pest control, as the ever increasing amounts of toxic chemicals that seep into our soil, leech into our aquifers and vaporize into the atmosphere continue to wreak havoc with the environment. With the world population expected to undergo its most rapid rate of increase in history, from 6.5 to 9.0 billion by 2050, the need for new methods of control has never been greater. NanoGreen believes it is in the forefront of this quest, being able to provide a continually evolving green technology that offers an environmentally sustainable alternative to farmers and growers.