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These days, it's pretty clear that pesticides have a not-so-great reputation. However, some insects may be able to turn things around.<\/p>\n
Some insects, such as the ladybug, can only be beneficial to the environment<\/a>, meaning they work toward the greater good of saving the crops. Other insects, such as sugarcane aphids, tend to have the opposite effect – they're just looking for a good lunch. Luckily, when these two insects go toe-to-toe, the ladybug tends to prevail, leaving crops untouched and aphids gone. However, there's sadly not enough lady bugs in the world to help protect the sorghum plant, which is why pesticides are needed too.<\/p>\n Together, pesticides and ladybugs may be able to protect crops without causing harm to the environment, or to humans. Pesticides are often criticized for making farmers and consumers ill, as well as causing other latent health issues. However, this usually occurs because of the amount of pesticides going on the crops. Many studies have found that pesticide companies tend to spray a serious amount of the product on plants, even though only a small amount is needed to fight off pests like the hungry aphid. If pesticide companies began reducing their amount of spray, they may help out their current dismal reputation.<\/p>\n Working hand in hand <\/strong> For some areas, ladybugs aren't the only insect chipping in. Other bugs, such as parasitic wasps and green lacewings can help fight against hungry aphids. Yet the role of pesticides should not be discounted.<\/p>\n "Once initial sugarcane aphid numbers were knocked back to where ladybugs and the like could keep up with the sugarcane aphid, beneficials were very effective. However, all scenarios could be seen from where beneficials cleaned up some sugarcane aphid populations, to where others had little chance or had no impact at all," integrated pest management agent Kerry Siders noted to news source Amarillo.com.<\/p>\n However, it's important that farmers are mindful of the pesticides they're spraying around their farms. If they spray too much, or the chemical is too strong, they may wipe out all the insects in the area, good and bad.<\/p>\n Many farmers swear by Transform, an insecticide that was released in 2013<\/a> to kill pests associated with crops such as potatoes, soybeans, cotton and canola. In 2015, after the significant outbreak of aphids on sugarcane crops, the Environmental Protection Agency approved use of the product in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and Texas.<\/p>\n
\nLuckily, farmers in Lubbock, Texas, have already figured out the benefits of moderation, with a little help from their ladybug friends. The farmers in Southern Texas know how quickly aphids can populate, and how easily they can jump from crop to crop. For example, this past summer aphids moved from sorghum to sugarcane, wreaking havoc on several acres of land in the area and ruining sales for those farmers. The farmers realized that when aphids reach those high numbers, ladybugs alone cannot control the population. Instead, that's where pesticides come in to significantly reduce the number of this voracious pest. Once the population has been considerably cut down, the ladybugs will come and take care of the rest, leaving crops relatively free of aphids and healthy enough to continue growing without excessive pesticides.<\/p>\n