This happens because whiteflies often develop resistance to pesticides and pesticides often kill the natural predators that were helping keep the whiteflies in check. What you need to do is back off from the stronger pesticides, let the natural predators build back up and use gentler chemicals to cut back the whitefly population to a point where the predators -- such as lacewings, minute pirate bugs, big-eyed bugs, lady beetles and parasitic wasps -- can take over. What you need to do is...

Beekeepers at first attributed the losses to bee mites or viruses, ailments in the industry to which they had grown accustomed. Advertisement pollination contributes about $55 million to the value of Pennsylvania crops. Local beekeepers send their bees off, hives and all, on semi trucks to other states to pollinate crops there in Pennsylvania's non-growing seasons. He said he wants his bees to avoid crops treated with neonicotinoid insecticides. They called for identifying potential...

Bayer CropScience achieved its 2006 target of EUR 1 billion in sales of these new active ingredients that have been launched in core markets since 2000. Bayer HealthCare was particularly successful, with above-market growth in all its divisions and additional momentum coming from the Schering acquisition. Bayer, he said, had improved major performance indicators substantially compared to the previous year. In the Crop Protection segment, representing the conventional agricultural chemicals...

In recent years, the popularity of glyphosate-tolerant systems stymied chemical companies from developing new herbicides. Status, a tank-mix partner with glyphosate, can be used in both Roundup Ready acres and as a stand alone for broadleaf weed control on conventional corn acres, say BASF officials. However, the specter of glyphosate-resistant weeds is snapping new life back into the agricultural herbicide market. It combines broadleaf control similar to Callisto with improved grass...

State agriculture officials can hire legions of inspectors, and the Legislature can write volumes of new laws, but the abuse of pesticides will remain a threat to farmworkers and consumers until growers improve their record-keeping. Judge Stevenson said he could neither sustain the complaints nor absolve Ag-Mart because the company's records left him unable to tell whether rules were broken. The company appealed, and a judge dismissed more than two-thirds of the charges because the records...