Introduction
El Salvador locates in Central America, bordered by Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It has a tropical and a subtropical climate including a dry season from November to April and a rainy season from May to October. According to World Development Indicators, there were 29.6% of households living in poverty in 2013 (World Development Indicators, 2015). This report focus on smallholder farms, which found at high altitudes in the mountainous regions of the country and grow crops including maize, beans, rice and sorghum (Nations Encyclopedia, 2001). In order to control the pests, weeds and diseases, smallholder farmers usually use agrochemicals and slash and burn farming method, which is not environmentally friendly and even has negative …show more content…
Even though it is practical, it is becoming a serious problem with the natural ecosystem and human interaction. Firstly, some herbicides are ban recently due to the link with kidney disease (Seralini, 2012). According to Seralini’s study in 2012, 76% of treated rats had kidney disease after being fed contaminated maize for 12 months (Seralini el al, 2012). Secondly, the use of agrochemicals creates resilience in weeds and build up the weed species tolerant of the control methods used (Matsunkaka, 1983). Once the pests, weeds and diseases evolve and adapt to the pesticides and herbicides, farmers have to use more pesticides and herbicides to control them. Thirdly, pesticides and herbicides heavily damage surrounding organisms and contaminated watershed. According to Figure 1, spray pesticides drift by wind to the atmosphere and run off into drinking water catchments (Vammen, …show more content…
For instance, parasitic wasps and ladybugs are two important biological pest control to whitefly, which can be attracted by marigold, yarrow, coriander, parsley and fennel. A case study in greenhouse tomatoes found that parasitic wasps can reduce overall whitefly survival from 68.9% to 25.1%, which is a huge reduction (Hoddle et al, 1998). Moreover, it has been proven that adult ladybugs can eat up to 640 whitefly per day and a single beetle can consume 10,000 whitefly eggs during its lifetime (Delphastus, n.d.). As a result, it would be beneficial if hedgerows are implemented in El Salvador smallholder
El Salvador locates in Central America, bordered by Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It has a tropical and a subtropical climate including a dry season from November to April and a rainy season from May to October. According to World Development Indicators, there were 29.6% of households living in poverty in 2013 (World Development Indicators, 2015). This report focus on smallholder farms, which found at high altitudes in the mountainous regions of the country and grow crops including maize, beans, rice and sorghum (Nations Encyclopedia, 2001). In order to control the pests, weeds and diseases, smallholder farmers usually use agrochemicals and slash and burn farming method, which is not environmentally friendly and even has negative …show more content…
Even though it is practical, it is becoming a serious problem with the natural ecosystem and human interaction. Firstly, some herbicides are ban recently due to the link with kidney disease (Seralini, 2012). According to Seralini’s study in 2012, 76% of treated rats had kidney disease after being fed contaminated maize for 12 months (Seralini el al, 2012). Secondly, the use of agrochemicals creates resilience in weeds and build up the weed species tolerant of the control methods used (Matsunkaka, 1983). Once the pests, weeds and diseases evolve and adapt to the pesticides and herbicides, farmers have to use more pesticides and herbicides to control them. Thirdly, pesticides and herbicides heavily damage surrounding organisms and contaminated watershed. According to Figure 1, spray pesticides drift by wind to the atmosphere and run off into drinking water catchments (Vammen, …show more content…
For instance, parasitic wasps and ladybugs are two important biological pest control to whitefly, which can be attracted by marigold, yarrow, coriander, parsley and fennel. A case study in greenhouse tomatoes found that parasitic wasps can reduce overall whitefly survival from 68.9% to 25.1%, which is a huge reduction (Hoddle et al, 1998). Moreover, it has been proven that adult ladybugs can eat up to 640 whitefly per day and a single beetle can consume 10,000 whitefly eggs during its lifetime (Delphastus, n.d.). As a result, it would be beneficial if hedgerows are implemented in El Salvador smallholder