A Review on Pesticides in the Soil: Implications on Food Security

Abstract

Pesticides are indispensable in agricultural production. They have been used by farmers to control weeds and insects, and their remarkable increases in agricultural products have been reported. The increase in the world’s population in the 20th century could not have been possible without a parallel increase in food production. About one-third of agricultural products are produced depending on the application of pesticides. Without the use of pesticides, there would be a 78% loss of fruit production, a 54% loss of vegetable production, and a 32% loss of cereal production. Pesticides play a vital role in modern agriculture by protecting crops from pests, diseases, and weeds, thus ensuring high productivity. The most commonly used pesticides are insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. These substances help control harmful organisms, including insects, fungi, and bacteria, as well as weeds, thereby reducing the risks of yield loss and diminished product quality. However, their extensive use poses significant risks to environmental health, including soil and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and adverse effects on pollinators like bees. Human health is also impacted, with potential links to chronic and on ecological diseases. This review examined pesticides in soil: implication on food security. Based on the review it shows that excessive application of fertilizer causes damage to the crops, facilitates the eutrophication process, pollution of the water bodies, creates a negative impact on the soil pH, and causes air pollution by nitrogen oxide emissions, among others. It was further found that excessive application of herbicides inhibits the activities of micro-organisms in the soil, causes acute poisoning and sometimes leads to human death, causes skin rashes to exposed farmers, soil degradation, and reduction of water retention in soil, among others. Moreover, the review indicated that excessive use of insecticides leads to the destruction of biodiversity, declines in rare species of animals and birds, threats to aquatic animals, and declines in the population of beneficial insects, among others. Remedies were found to include enacting specific legislations to regulate the importation of extremely hazardous pesticides, registration of all agrochemicals used in Nigeria, organization of seminars and workshops to educate farmers on the safe application of agrochemicals, prohibition of sales of agrochemicals in an open market, use of organic manures and pesticides, among others. It was recommended among others that the Ministry of Agriculture should strictly regulate the application of agricultural chemicals to reduce the deleterious effect on the sustainable environment and food security.