Chapter 1. Pesticides: chemical tools. Pages 3-15.

Keywords: Production and sales of synthetic organic pesticides by the USA 1965-1980, pesticide usage in agriculture sector, volume and value of synthetic and natural organic pesticides in the US 1965-1980, importance of pests and their damage, yield losses from pest damage, share of total agricultural herbicides and insecticides on corn (maize), cotton, soybeans and wheat in the USA, increased yield of corn, soybeans, and wheat due to herbicides, minimum tillage, the ten world’s worst weeds, pests in

history, potato famine, Venezuelan equine encephalitis in Texas, bubonic plague, malaria, the most common diseases known to be transmitted to humans by insects, ticks and mites, pesticides in history, Pliny the Elder 70AD, pest control based on sfolklore and superstition, benefits and risks of using pesticides, food and hunger, carrying capacity of the USA farmer, percentage of population involved in agriculture, percentage disposable income spent on food worldwide, increased production per hectare of field crops, need for pesticides