Exposes the massive hidden health and environmental costs of rampant pesticide use. Presents an array of cheaper, safer alternatives to pesticides used by millions of farmers around the world. Written by leading international agricultural and biological scientists supported by The Global Integrated Pest Management Facility of the FAO
Since the 1960s the world’s population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third, largely because of widespread pesticide use. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs -- massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poisoning and chronic health effects. Yet in recent years millions of farmers in communities around the world have been identifying harmful pesticides and developing cheaper and safer alternatives. "The Pesticide Detox" explores the potential for the phasing-out of hazardous pesticides and the phasing-in of cost-effective alternatives already available on the market. This book makes clear that it is time to start the pesticide detox and to move towards a more sustainable agriculture.
Jules Pretty OBE, is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, UK and Chief Editor of the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability. He is also the author of Agri-culture.
Contents: Preface; Pesticide Use and the Environment; The Health Impacts of Pesticides; Paying the Price: The Full Cost of Pesticides; Corporations and Pesticides; Agriobiologicals and Alternatives; Farmer Decision Making and Ecological Pest Management; The Human and Social Dimensions of Pest Management for Agricultural Sustainability; Ecological Basis for Low-Toxicity IPM; Towards Zero-Pesticide Use; Transforming Pota to Systems in the Andes; Breaking the Barriers to IPM in Africa; Towards Safe Cocoa Pest Management; Agroecological Interventions in the USA; The Transition to Safe Pest Management in Industrialized Agricultural Systems; Policies and Trends; Bibliography; Index.
“Fourteen chapters address the indirect costs of synthetic pesticides, endeavoring to inform the debate regarding how best to produce, sustain, and protect valuable resources. The initial chapter, ‘Pesticide Use and the Environment,’ sets the subject; chapters follow on health, costs, corporate involvement, pesticide alternatives, farmers, social dimensions, and commodity/country case histories. With sometimes limited information, authors indicate that the problem is serious, that some progress has been made, and that more efforts are necessary for better remediation and avoidance of past mistakes....Liberal use of informative graphs and tables, a useful index, and extensive bibliographic references enhance the text. Summing Up: Recommended." -- Choice
Published by Earthscan Publications Ltd. Jules Pretty February 2005 240 pp., 6" x 9 1/4"
The Pesticide Detox 
Towards a More Sustainable Agriculture: