Introduction
A pest is an animal which has a harmful effect on humans or their concerns. It is a vaguely defined term that correlates with other correlated words like vermin and insects etc. In its broad sense, a pest and a human are like competitors. Plants are prone to a number of pests and diseases. A large number of problems in plants are seasonal and climatic. Pests’ types are as follows: (1). insects, nematodes, mites & gastropods counted as invertebrates (2). Mammals & birds on the other hands are vertebrates.
History
Pests and diseases are an indirect threat to human race because of extinction of our food supplies and corruption of our environment by them. Their growing rate is affecting the concept of sustainable development severely. Some animals are called pests as they may also become a reason to damage agriculture by feeding on crops or parasitizing livestock, such as moth and bolls on fruits and crops. An animal could also act like a pest when it causes damage to a wild ecosystem or carries germs within human habitats and enlists itself in pests and diseases problem. Examples include those acting as human diseases’ vectors, such as rats and fleas that may carry the plague disease and spreads it in humans; other example is of mosquitoes spreading malaria, and ticks carrying Lyme disease. Pests and diseases are thence very common in our environment. The term pest not only specify harmful bugs but it means all harmful organisms including weeds, plant disease causing fungi and viruses that may lead to some kind of loss of food or raw material such as wood, cotton and sugarcane etc. Pesticides are the chemicals that are used to control or protect other organisms, and so from pests and diseases caused by them. The term vermin has overlapped with that of pest, but it generally includes those organisms that are vectors of different pests and diseases.
Pests and Diseases
Ants, cockroaches, flies and wasps are all household pests, and they destroy human food. Caterpillars damage crops and plants. Lice, fleas and bed bugs cause skin problems. Mosquitoes, tsetse flies and kissing bugs carry infectious zoonotic diseases. Termites, silverfish, woodworm and wood ants are known for their structural damage to wood, tree and stuff made from them like furniture. Bookworms, carpet beetles and clothes moths cause damage to our daily use stuff and may cause skin problems. Gypsy moths attack hardwood trees. Some pests and disease are; Root-knot, Soybean and Potato cyst caused by nematodes, hence causing food shortage. Chiggers cause skin irritation and another pest causes scabies. Ticks and mites along with their problems are part of pests and diseases.
Some slugs are pests in both agriculture and gardens. Slug pest and diseases are important worldwide. Land snail pests and diseases include damage to citrus fruits while few other spp. decreases quality of grains causing huge economic loss every year. Others are damaging vegetables and ornamental plants causing heck of damage to food and environment.
Steps to problem solving:
Pests and diseases are important problem and problem solving methods are as follows:
- A specific biological pest can be used as a predator to kill pests.
- Farmers usually herd their hens through crops which will eat pests such as small worms and insects.
- Some green leaves which are known to be toxic pests that prey on crops. By placing these leaves, the pests in crops can be destroyed.
- Put traps to reduce numbers of pests.
- A vital stage of life cycle of pest should be destroyed to avoid pest’s infestation.
- Birds and insects that feed on plants can be scared by human like figures.
- Wood ash has been known to successfully reduce pests.
- Around the edge of vegetable fields, a live fence can be used and also by providing a barrier to larger pests.
- Methods can be applied to repel the pests from field.
- A method is adopted to attract pests away from crops.
- Trap Crops, they can be used for live fences.
- Few crops are known for their quality that when planted around cotton fields, they can deter pests who would prefer to feed on these altered crops.
- Uses of organic pesticides are made by using locally available plants to produce a pesticide that will repel and kill pests.
- Burnthe infested crop, pests and diseases can be controlled.
