Pests and Petroleum

Abstract

Farmers throughout the world have waged an age-long fight against insect attacks, plant diseases, and animal pests. Though this battle is now fought with very much more effective weapons than were available in earlier times for combating those grave menaces to the productivity of the land, the loss and destruction is still immense. The total value of agricultural produce lost through these causes alone possibly approaches £5,000 million a year for the world as a whole. American statisticians put the U.S.A.'s own losses from insects and plants pests as high as 8,000 million dollars (nearly £2,900 million), while crop losses through weeds add another 5,000 million dollars to that already frightening figure. It has been estimated that the total quantities of the world's grain crop destroyed by insects of all kinds would be sufficient to feed some ISO million people. The latter figure represents about 6 per cent of the world population, now standing at nearly 2,500 million people.