WHERE HAVE ALL THE PESTICIDES GONE
Peter, Paul and Mary probably don't know, but Donella H.
Meadows tells us in her essay, "Where Do All the Pesticides Go?":
"Every year American farmers apply 1.3 million tons of
pesticides to their fields. When pesticides are sprayed
by airplane--and sixty-five percent of them are--less
than half the chemical hits the target field. The rest
disintegrates in the air or falls somewhere else. Of
the pesticide that does reach the field, far less than
one percent makes contact with a harmful insect or
weed."
Primary Source: The Global Citizen, Island Press, c1991.
Secondary Source: Personal communication with Bill Duesing--
organic farmer, author, educator and artist
(http://www.wshu.org/duesing/)
****************************
Pam Murray, Coordinator
Center for Grassland Studies and
Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems
PO Box 830949
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE 68583-0949
phone: 402-472-9383
fax: 402-472-4104
e-mail: csas001@unlvm.unl.edu