Pyrethrum Plays Big Role in Biological Pesticide Production

There is a kind of chrysanthemum called pyrethrum, which can be of good to the people's health. Yunnan province is one of the most ideal places for growing pyrethrum in China. Kunming Botanical Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences has lately started to establish a biological pesticide production base in Qujing City. The project includes the planting of pyrethrum in a large area, and the using of a unique technique created solely by China to extract and process the pyrethrum into a kind of harmless pesticide.

Experts say that the project will help change in an effective way the using of pesticides in agriculture, thereby greatly improving the quality of crops, which can be of great good to the people's health and the protection of ecological environment.

As reported biological insecticide is a natural pesticide with high safety. However, most of the pesticides used in the world have so far been the chemosynthetic ones containing a lot of chlorine, phosphorous and other organic substance. Although they can effectively kill insects, the residue left on food can be of great threats to people's health. In some areas, the amount of pesticide taken in by people has reached 2 kg annually.

The Kunming Botanical Institute started the experiment of pyrethrum cultivation in the early 1980s. Studies indicate that with a particularly favorable natural condition, the pyrethrum yield in Yunnan province can be triple that of the Hiroshima in Japan, the ester in pyrethrum amounting to 12 - 48%, which can match with the pyrethrum in Kenya and Ecuador, home of the best pyrethrum in the world.

Commentary in Short: More Attention Be Given to Biological Pesticide

People began to know the killing of insects by the pesticide substance in plants about 1,500 years ago, such as using tansy and tobacco to drive away and kill mosquito and insects, but these methods failed to take much effects in the long run. When chemicals came into the world, that kind of pesticides receded gradually. Chemicals is in a way a double-edged sword, which is effective in one way, but in another is harmful to people. Many developed countries have warned of controlling the amount of chemical pesticides and instead advocated the use of biological ones, as they are not only quick and effective, but also harmless and free of residues.

For China to develop biological pesticide is obviously a promising cause as it is a large agricultural country. For the sake of the health of the people, let us afford more attention to biological pesticides.



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