Pesticides are chemical substances that are meant to kill pests. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or a biological agent such as a virus, bacterium, antimicrobial, or disinfectant that deters, incapacitates, kills, pests.
This use of pesticides is so common that the term pesticide is often treated as synonymous with plant protection product. It is commonly used to eliminate or control a variety of agricultural pests that can damage crops and livestock and reduce farm productivity. The most commonly applied pesticides are insecticides to kill insects, herbicides to kill weeds, rodenticides to kill rodents, and fungicides to control fungi, mould, and mildew.
A Brief History
Pesticides are not recent inventions! Many ancient civilizations used pesticides to protect their crops from insects and pests. Ancient Sumerians used elemental sulfur to protect their crops from insects. Whereas, Medieval farmers experimented with chemicals using arsenic, lead on common crops.
The Chinese used arsenic and mercury compounds to control body lice and other pests. While, the Greeks and Romans used oil, ash, sulfur, and other materials to protect themselves, their livestock, and their crops from various pests.
Meanwhile, in the nineteenth century, researchers focused more on natural techniques involving compounds made with the roots of tropical vegetables and chrysanthemums. In 1939, Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) was discovered, which has become extremely effective and rapidly used as the insecticide in the world. However, twenty years later, due to biological effects and human safety, DDT has been banned in almost 86 countries.