Malathion Spraying

Since 1950, American farmers have produced enough food so that the United States can export about a third of each year’s production. That year marked the beginning of widespread availability of synthetic pest control products.

It took 130 years, starting in 1820, to raise the number of people fed per American farmer from 4.1 to 15.5. Only 38 years later, that number had risen to 114, according to 1987 statistics from the Agriculture Council of America. Ag chemicals have contributed to this increase in productivity by providing every farmer protection against loss due to weeds, insects or disease.

Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug estimates that, without modern pest control technology, crop losses worldwide would escalate to about 50% of current production. For Americans, the result of more efficient crop production has been the availability of a high-quality diet at an ever-lower cost. It’s estimated an average family of four spends the 1989 equivalent of $50 per week less on food than in 1950.

Americans are not the only ones who stand to benefit from our vast production potential. Every day the world has 200,000 more mouths to feed and by the year 2000 the world’s population will exceed 6 billion people. Although hunger is endemic in less fortunate parts of the world, only modern crop management has enabled us to make any headway against this pressing human problem.

What would happen if the United States and other countries could not produce food for overseas export? Not only would more people go hungry, but the environmental impact could be devastating.

ELEANOR LEAHY

Administrative Assistant

California Citrus Mutual

Visalia