Leave me the birds and the bees ... please!


Like Joni Mitchell in her song “Big Yellow Taxi,” Faraaz Abdool pleads for his beloved birds: not many will survive the onslaught of toxic chemicals used to rid backyard gardens and agri-holdings of pests. What should we be doing to protect the crops? All photos courtesy Faraaz Abdool
 
 Bees are valuable pollinators
A poisoned bee lies dead after crawling around convulsing. (Dead bees have been turning up ever since a new neighbour moved in next door to us, he sprays constantly)
Let’s not debate what makes a pest a pest. Instead, let’s figure out how we decide what is fit to be freely dispensed into the environment. There is a wide selection of bottles and cans available in your local plant or agro-shop – herbicides and pesticides and insecticides – which do the jobs of getting rid of weeds, “pests” and insects. First of all, do we take the time to read the labels? The sad truth is that most of us don’t, taking for granted that a sense of responsibility is the characteristic of the manufacturing industry; they wouldn’t produce anything to harm a living thing, would they?
Almost immediately after my neighbour cracks a container of insecticide or kerosene, the nauseating odors overload my olfactory senses. Once poured or sprayed on plants, in soil or in drains, the rest of the work is done by the elements. Gradually we are learning exactly how far-reaching the effects of a single action or exposure can be. Once released into the environment, the carriers of these chemicals are water and the air itself. Fumes travel fastest.
A large portion of these products are pesticides, some of the more potent ones reserved for only the most serious of infestations. These are compounds which generally do not discriminate among possible targets, and herein lies the gravest concern. Just as antibiotics have been known to exterminate both bad and good bacteria, so too, in our homes and gardens we must exercise caution in applying a broad-spectrum control measure that’s designed to kill.

Ladybird beetles feed on all stages of the hibiscus mealybug.



Earworms are known for making holes in fruits, which eventually turn brown and rot. Wasps feed on earworm larvae.
An orb-weaver spider wraps a large brown moth. Moths like these are often responsible for the voracious caterpillars which decimate leafy crops.

Pesticides target animals and fungi which feed on the leaves, stems, fruits and roots of our crops. We must ask ourselves however, how were these same fruiting plants and leafy crops able to survive to adulthood, bear fruit and procreate successfully for the thousands of years before pesticides were invented? Surely, there must have been some form of governance in the natural world to ensure a balance.

As usual, we humans have upset this balance. We have destroyed pristine forest, scrubland, almost every habitat on the planet – for two of the most basic human necessities, shelter and food. In doing so, we have severely cut into the intricate web of life that exists harmoniously in nature.
So what really happens when we spray our gardens with pesticides? For starters, even though one would spray a pesticide to get rid of a pesky caterpillar that’s making holes in your tomatoes, the caterpillars don’t go down alone. Predators like spiders and crickets that feed on insect larvae and eggs also die off eventually. The problem here is that typically, predators take longer to re-populate an area as the base levels of the food chain need to be solid enough to support them. Consequently, fast-breeding insects like flies and shield bugs are the first to take advantage of the small scale post-apocalyptic setting. Without predators of eggs and larvae, these supposed pests tend to overtake the landscape, superficially justifying the need for another application of pesticides.
The effects of the poison are not swift by any means, sometimes it can take many hours for even small invertebrates to die, during which time some may become disoriented and behave unnaturally, becoming easier prey for insectivorous birds and mammals.
Birds such as this Grey Kingbird that feed primarily on insects are some of the most at-risk species for "accidental" poisoning.

Broad-winged Hawks are one of the few species of raptor found on Tobago, and like any apex predator are subject to the effects of bio-accumulation. Lizards and small mammals that feed on poisoned insects pass the poison up the food chain when they are consumed by birds of prey

Birds especially are at risk from the effects of pesticide use after eating infected victims such as grasshoppers and earthworms, even if the dose of poison is not immediately lethal. These sub-lethal doses can cause anything from muscle paralysis to general lethargy. This in turn reduces their reaction time, reduces their ability to catch and dispatch prey effectively consigning them to a slow descent into starvation. In fact, a 2014 study determined that pesticide use in agricultural areas on average claims the lives of up to 10 birds per hectare each year.
Naturally, the ideal situation would be to have no pests and no need for pesticides at all. Unfortunately in most urban, suburban and agricultural areas, the natural balance is not even a ghost of what it once was and it may even seem necessary to reach for the spray can. But hold on, let’s look at a few natural, long-term options.
Monoculture or the practice of using a piece of land to yield a single crop is a human invention, and fundamentally flawed and in opposition to the natural order of things. Mixed cropping will restore some semblance of balance to the soil and the immediate environment. Each plant would contribute and require different nutrients and minerals from the soil, pests cannot properly adapt to the myriad of different plants and therefore cannot establish themselves in epidemic proportions as they would in a monoculture setting. Crops like beans grow well with a number of other crops such as cucumber, corn and eggplant. The practice of complementary planting is part of the philosophy called permaculture.
Biological control is the goal for long-term, self-sufficient mitigation of the effects of pests. Each animal that is classed as a pest is prey for another animal, so we must strive to provide homes for the predators. Ladybird beetles feed on aphids and the dreaded mealy bug. Wasps, spiders, frogs and lizards feed on insects and therefore, they are all friends of the gardener.
Cane Toads never pass up an opportunity for a meal, and feed on a variety of insects and insect larvae that are considered pests.

Frogs like this Charlotteville Litter Frog feed on slugs and small insects and are a very useful method of biological control - these die off when pesticide is sprayed. 

Should desperation set in, at the very least let us try to stick with all-natural deterrents such as onion, garlic, pepper, marigold, wood ash and even milk. These non-toxic alternatives can be applied as powder or diluted into a spray and scattered with the same level of convenience as the chemical pesticides we have come to believe in. The difference here is that non-toxic pest deterrents don’t wipe out songbirds or frogs or bees and certainly don’t leave a massive weight on the conscience. What’s a little hole in the cucumber from your own garden?

References
Ministry of Food Production (2012): Management of Pests & Diseases – A Home Gardener’s Manual


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