FEATURE
PESTICIDES OF THE FUTURE By Eric Reasor, Ph.D. — Southeast Research Scientist, PBI-Gordon Corporation
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esticides have undergone significant changes in the past 50 years with an increased focus on environmental and applicator safety. Tennessee Turfgrass Association members and the entire turfgrass industry will see pesticide technologies in the future look very different than the past. However, despite many future changes, pesticides will continue being a highly effective tool for turfgrass pest management.
IMPORTANCE OF PESTICIDES IN PEST MANAGEMENT Pesticides are any substance or mixture of substances used to kill pests or manage the damage they cause and are an important tool for managing turfgrass pests1. Turfgrasses have been used for functional, recreational, and aesthetic purposes to enhance human lives for hundreds of years,2 and many pests can significantly reduce these desired qualities. For example, disease and insect pests can infect or feed on turfgrass plants, leaving infected areas susceptible to wear damage, or environmental stresses such as drought. Furthermore, weed pests such as large crabgrass and white clover can compromise the safety of natural grass athletic fields by increasing the surface hardness ~ 50% compared to hybrid bermudagrass3. Integrated pest management (IPM) is an approach that combines multiple chemical and non-chemical methods for pest management. Most of these techniques involve maximizing turfgrass growth and plant health by species and variety selection, mowing, cultivation, fertilization, and irrigation. Although these cultural practices are critical for pest management, turfgrass quality expectations and lack of control thresholds drive the need for pest-free turfgrass. As a result, pesticides are still the backbone
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of turfgrass pest management1. The widespread use and necessity of turfgrass pesticides will require the industry to evolve as the pesticides change in the future.
HISTORY OF PESTICIDES Understanding the history of pesticides and their use is important to the future of pesticides. There are currently five main time periods of pesticide use that describe the type of pesticides used during those times. Current time periods can be described as 1) early pest management prior to year 1000, 2) 1000 to 1850, 3) 1850 to 1940, 4) 1940 to 1970, and 5) 1970 to present. Additional time periods are likely to occur as pesticides enter a new era in the future. The first recorded use of pesticides is about 4500 years ago by Sumerians, who applied sulfur compounds to battle insects and mites. This type of pesticide use continued until approximately year 1000 when the use of plant, animal, or mineral derivatives increased. From 1850 to 1940, pesticides were mainly inorganic compounds and industrial by-products. Moreover, pesticide use during these times typically involved high active ingredient application rates and unsafe application methods. Following the 1940s and scientific advancement after WWII, synthetic organic compounds were being developed for pesticides as a result of organic chemistry being applied to pesticide science. These synthetic organic pesticides still had high application rates in the kilograms per hectare for active ingredients, such as thiuram and DDT. However, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was established in 1947 to set guidelines for pesticides registered in the United States. FIFRA determines product uses, application rates, and potential hazards. They also developed the pesticide labeling process to instruct end-users on proper and safe applications.
TENNESSEE TURFGRASS APRIL / MAY 2022 Email TTA at: info@ttaonline.org
