The Impact of the Green Revolution on Plant Protection in Tropical and Subtropical Areas

Abstract

The earliest use of the term “integrated control,” at least in its pest control sense, dates from June of 1954 (Smith and Allen, 1954). Thus, the history of integrated control would appear to have spanned little more than 17 years. Until now, most discussions of the origins of integrated control have emphasized the over-dependence on and the over-use of chemical pesticides subsequent to World War II and the unfortunate and unfavorable consequences which resulted from the use of these chemicals. These unfavorable consequences involved particularly the development of insect populations resistant to pesticides, undesirable residue levels on food crops, impact on wildlife, the rapid resurgence of target pest populations following treatment, and outbreaks of unleashed secondary pests (Smith and Reynolds, 1971). All of these repercussions and the steps taken to adjust for them cumulated in excessively high costs for plant protection. Then as the story goes, this series of unsavory events was coupled with the wisdom of a few omniscient soothsayers; and integrated control came into the world. Another somewhat different account of the historical development of integrated control as related by one of our British friends describes it as a mixture of “idealism, evangelism, pursuit of fashion, fund-raising and even empire-building. The movement has indeed acquired the impetus and character of a religious revival … ” (Price-Jones, 1970).