These organisms cause major damage each year to crops, forests, rangelands, and livestock. The ability of the United States to produce, store, ship and trade food and other products of agriculture is limited by the degree to which pests can be controlled. Although vital to the health of agriculture, pest control also can have negative effects.
Environmental damage can occur as chemical contamination due to pesticide use.
Conversely, lack of pest control may create other environmental and human health problems. For example, pests can cause crops to leave nitrates unused in the soil or can introduce dangerous mycotoxins into the food chain of humans and farm animals. Pests can prevent the acceptance of U.S. agricultural products in foreign commerce. Clearly, fundamental knowledge is needed to form the basis of novel pest management strategies for new or emerging pests or for replacement of obsolete pest management practices. Moreover, pest management of the future must be improved while simultaneously reducing our dependency on pesticides.