Alternatives to Chemical inputs in farming

A sharp increase on the use of chemical pesticides in food production has been observed over the past 40 years, mainly to meet the ever growing demand for food.  However, the increased use of chemical inputs for crop production has negative effects to human and animal health, environmental pollution and biodiversity disruption. This calls for a search for new safer methods to improve food production.

Impact of chemical pesticides on environment. Image by Wikipedia

Microorganisms like the soil bacteria Bacillus seems like a promising alternative to chemical farm inputs. They have been tried in many parts of the world, especially China, US, Brazil and South Africa and have showed significant success. Like how this video explains:

Although there are already commercial products in the market, there still remains a lot of unlocked potential on the use of microorganisms in agriculture.

Biopesticide. Image by hiwtc.com

More research is needed to effectively utilize their potential in supplementing or replacing chemical inputs in agriculture. Biocontrol and biofertilizers, as they are called, are generally safer and cheaper compared to the chemicals.

Measuring Tomato Growth Promotion by Bacillus. Image by Aneth David