Agrochemicals and their responsible management.

Dear readers, in this opportunity we will deal with aspects related to the safe handling of agrochemicals. It is necessary to emphasize that agrochemicals are called pesticides, which are classified in different groups that will be described in this publication. Agricultural pesticides are known to create an imbalance in agricultural ecosystems, since they can inhibit the micro and meso fauna of the soil, which is responsible for the degradation of organic matter that is important for crop nutrition. In addition, this type of product can cause health problems, so it is recommended that those who use them take certain measures to prevent direct contact with these substances.

_{Pesticides used in the agricultural sector}

_{Design made by Hive account@amestyj 2020 with photograph captured in the agricultural store_Méndoza Venezuela Sector Tucaní State Mérida.}

We will start by socializing the definition of pesticide

Pesticide: the term pesticide encompasses at the agricultural level any substance that is intended to control pests, but it is important to mention that when talking about pests is not limited to insects, should also include any organism that causes some damage or imbalance to crops such as known weeds or arvens, diseases among other types of pathogens that can inhibit the proper development of plants.

Among the pesticides that are generally used in agricultural production units are the following:

- Herbicides: in agricultural systems at the time of establishing a crop, a group of plants will always proliferate, which for the producer have no economic benefit and which physiologically compete with the crops for light, water, nutrients and space, which can be controlled manually, but this is usually a very costly task in terms of time and money.

That is why we started selling herbicides that are chemical substances that can inhibit the growth of these weeds, whose mode of action can be by contact affecting the vegetative parts of plants such as leaves, can also have a systemic action where the product is absorbed by the roots or through other parts of the plant and are translocated through xylem and phloem affecting their metabolism which creates the death of unwanted plants.

_{Brochures on herbicides and the product known as potreron used for weed control on forage surfaces.}

_{Design made by Hive account@amestyj 2020 with photographs captured from brochures and products of the agricultural marketing company Libertad, Municipality of Colón in the State of Zulia Venezuela.}

In future publications, the mode of action of herbicides will be expanded in a particular way, among other aspects of interest.

- Insecticides: when the nutritional balance is not maintained, infestations of insect pests can be seen in the crops, causing morphophysiological problems in the plants, resulting in a decrease in productive yields. For this reason, products were created whose substances can be of vegetable origin, organic, synthetic and biological, from agrotecnia we recommend a preventive management with biological products such as bacteria and entomopathogenic fungi to avoid exceeding the thresholds of infestation that require high applications of synthetic products.

_{Preventive product with Trichoderma Entomopathogenic fungus for the control of some pathogenic insects}

_{Design realized by Hive account@amestyj 2020 with photographies captured to product acquired by the author.}

- Fungicides: other agents that act as pathogens on plants are some fungi, which can cause significant losses in plantations, such as Mycosphaerella fijiensis which attacks the leaf of the banana crop and reduces the photosynthetic area of the leaf which causes it to not produce enough elaborate sap reducing the filling of the fruit. For this reason products were created whose substances are intended to inhibit the presence of these fungi, organic fungicides based on zinc and inorganic fungi such as sulfur can be obtained.

_{Wettable powdered agricultural fungicide}

_{Design made by Hive account@amestyj 2020 with photograph captured in the agricultural store_Méndoza Venezuela Sector Tucaní State Mérida.}

For all the above mentioned reasons, it is necessary to mention that these products come in different presentations such as solids, liquids, wettable granulated powders, among others. Likewise, there are different ways to apply them such as spraying machines, which deserves care when handling pesticides, since a bad management can be harmful to health.

_{Spraying equipment for pesticide application}

_{Design made by Hive account@amestyj 2020 with photography captured in an agricultural production unit located in the Municipality of Colón in the State of Zulia Venezuela.}

This toxicity is reflected in the products with colored bands, when a red line is observed on the product it indicates that the product is extremely toxic, if it is yellow it indicates that the product is highly toxic, if it is blue we are in front of a moderately toxic product and the green color is supposed to be slightly toxic, but in the same way it can cause toxicity problems.

_{Color bands indicating pesticide toxicity levels}

_{Design made by Hive account@amestyj 2020 with photograph captured in the agricultural store_Méndoza Venezuela Sector Tucaní State Mérida.}

According to Medrano, Gutiérrez and Ortega (2012), The color bands mentioned above are placed according to the lethal dose 50 (Ld50), the researchers indicate that this dose is determined by taking into account the relationship between the weight of the chemical agent and the organism, so it will be possible to deduce the dose required to produce death in half (50%) of a homogeneous group of animals that are usually rats, under certain conditions in the laboratory.

Said dose is expressed in mg per Kg of weight presented by the animal and which is expressed in the following manner according to the general regulations on pesticides:

_{Design made by Hive account@amestyj 2020}

Each product should present its band and have the recommendations for application, it should be avoided to increase the recommended doses, because sometimes it has been seen cases that some people apply a higher dose than recommended in the product, thinking that this way they will have greater results in controlling the pathogen.

Recommendations for safe handling of agrochemicals

In the present section, we list some recommendations for the proper handling of pesticides according to field experience and some bibliographic material that describes some habits for their application in order to avoid toxicity problems.

- Read the label of purchased pesticides, this ensures that you make good use of them and thus reduce the risks of toxicity from excessive doses.

- Keep the products in fresh places and away from children and food.

- Make sure that the equipment used, such as sprinklers, does not leak, as contact with the skin and eyes can cause severe irritation.

- At the time of application make sure that the wind does not blow the substance back into your body.

- It is recommended to use gloves and mouth cover to avoid inhaling the toxic substances, generally this type of measures are not implemented by those who apply it, despite having had contact with the product, it is advisable to bathe and change clothes as soon as possible and bathe avoiding that the substances can penetrate through the pores.

- After using the products, it is necessary to wash the containers well, trying to eliminate as much waste as possible and destroy them, avoiding that the substances reach the water effluents to avoid contamination.

Final considerations

Dear readers, we must make rational use of pesticides and leave behind the uncontrolled adoption of technologies that generate serious problems for the environment and the functional biodiversity of agro-ecosystems. Sustainable alternatives must be transmitted and adopted based on acquiring a broad knowledge of each component present in the system, in this way it will be possible to identify which local resources can be used to adopt alternatives that will allow us to reduce the excessive use of pesticides.

Bibliographic references

- Medrano, C.; Gutiérrez, W. and Ortega, S. (2012). Responsible use and management of agricultural pesticides. Maracaibo: University of Zulia.

- Nava, J. (2010). Safe handling of agrochemicals. Agrotechnician N° 26. Universidad del Zulia.

From agrotecnia we reiterate our gratitude to our followers and all communities that value our agricultural content, this commits us to continue sharing quality information with all the hive.