Researchers Looking At
Biological Pest Controls
Under present Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
rulings, farm use of DDT was
banned as of December 31-. 1972.
Other organochloine in
secticides are also coming under
close EPA scrutiny. In this group
are aldrin and toxaphene, which
along with DDT constituted the
“big three” in farm insecticide
use when the last study was made
in 1966.
As a skeptical eye is cast on
insecticides which the farmer has
long taken for granted, the need
to provide safe, economic sub
stitutes is growing.
The long residual life
associated with organochlorines -
the chief insecticides in 1966 - has
resulted in a build-up of these
materials in the enviomment.
The organophosphates and
carbamates developed more
recently degrade rather quickly
and do not pose a long-term
residue problem. However, many
are toxic to humans and other
warm-blooded animals and have
caused some poisonings of those
directly in contact with them.
Waiting in the wings - or,
rather, in the test tubes of
pesticide researchers - is a series
of experimental and innovative
approaches to insect control.
They range trom conventional
to far-out, and they have a
common goal: managing insect
pest populations without harming
or damaging the environment.
Few of these are in widespread
use yet, but they are promising
alternatives to the increasing
numbers of insecticides being
banned or restricted.
Following the lead of drug
researchers, insecticide research
and development is now ex
perimenting with biodynamics.
This method relates pesticides
to the physiological processes of
insects, piecing together a clear
picture of how and why they
work.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 31,1973
The researcher can then design
pesticides to do specific tasks,
using the insect’s own chemistry
as the basis for control ‘and
delivering the pesticide directly
to the insect part where it can
function most effectively.
Researchers say this method
may well score its first triumph
in the development of agents that
interfere with a pest's
metabolism. They may, for
example, reduce an insect’s
impluse to feed, causing star
vation. Agents may also be used
to advance ot delay pupation,
making the pupae more
vulnerable to predators and
disease organisms
Disruption of an insect’s
hormone balance is also being
explored. Insects require two
hormones - the so-called juvenile
hormone and ecdyson - to pass
from the larval stage to full
maturity as a butterfly, fly, or
beetle. Application of the hor
mones at the right time could
produce premature pupation or
prevent metamorphosis.
Both hormones have been
synthesized, but the ecdyson
structure is complicated and may
never be commerically
producible.
More conventional research is
focusing on the microbial and
viral pathogen approach.
Availability of materials to
work with is the limiting actor in
using pathogens in control
programs There are also
problems of registration of labels
and quality
The success of insect
sterilization in controlling the
screwworm is prompting use of
this approach on other insects,
including the pink cotton
bollworm in, Nevada and the
coddling moth in Washington.
Meanwhile, the USDA has been
looking into the possibility that
farmers may be using more
ONCE
ACROSS THE FIELD
DOES IT
Smoketown, Po.
I*l t ORTHO CHEVRON DESIGN UW«I RCC US PAf OFf
insecticides than they need to. A
nationwide pest management
program has been developed for
integrating all known methods of
pest control. Initially, the focus
has been on using pesticides only
when estimated damage from
pest populations exceeds the cost
of control.
Fewer, and more effective,
applications are being stressed
for crops like cotton, sweet
peppers, Irish potatoes, alfalfa,
sweet corn, apples, lettuce, and
tobacco.
As research develops safer,
less toxic products and as ex
perimental methods come into
wider use the impact of
restricted insecticide use on the
farmer will be lessened
Senior Citizens
Tour Washington
More than 80 ‘senior citi
zens’ have seen their federal
government in action
through the new Senior In
tern Program initiated by
Sen. Lowell Weicker, Jr.
(R.-Conn.).
The program included dis
cussions with members of the
House and Senate, briefings
on department and committee
activities, seminars with
White House, Justice and
Congressional officials and di
rect observation of the Con
gress from the House and
Senate galleries.
The week’s visit was un
derwritten by the Xerox Cor
poration, General Telephone
and Electronics, the South
ern New England Telephone
Company, the United Auto
Workers-Region 9-A, the
Ripps Realty, Inc., and the
Greater Hartford Chamber
of Commerce.
PH. 397-3539
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