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Herbal pesticides: Natural, harmless way to protect crops

Published On: September 4, 2009, 9:49 am

By Meenakshi Narang

Consequent to years of research, scientists have come up with a wonderful revelation that rosemary, thyme, clove and mint have insecticidal properties that can be of enormous use to agriculture and its related industry. Properties of these plants have the capability to kill as well as repel the bugs. 

 
Agriculturists are effectively blending the oils of several herbs together before dissolving them in water and then spraying them on the plant.
 
This news is welcome, especially at a time when household pesticides have earned a bad name for causing acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children. Dr Murray Isman of University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, who is leading this study, has encouraged the use of herbal pesticides by farmers to protect their crops such as organic strawberry, tomato and spinach crops against the devastation of pests like mites and aphids.
 
These plant based pesticides are pleasantly natural and are devoid of any man-made chemicals. This also protects our food from getting contaminated. Another advantage of herbal pesticide is that insects are unlikely to develop resistance to them and also harmless for the farmers. Now, there will be absolutely no need to subject our food items with harsh chemicals to protect from chemicals.
 
Another plus point of these herbal pesticides is that they don't require any kind of regulatory approval, thus making them immediately available for organic and non-organic farmers. This indeed is going to be an effective way to protect the soil, food and our environment.
 
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