“Cannot Live In Balance With Nature”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 10

“Cannot Live In Balance With Nature”

Earlier in the symposium Mr G. G. Taylor, technical manager of the Fruitgrowers’ Chemical Company, Ltd., of Mapua, Nelson, noted that man had set himself on the road to securing control over his total environment. He could no longer live in balance with nature. He would continue to have to an even increasing degree, the problem of maintaining nature out of balance in his own favour. This was of course an unstable situation which would require all the artificial supports which the ingenuity of man could devise to keep it in equilibrium. And among these must be the use of agricultural chemicals, for In his view no greater threat existed than the decimation of crops which could occur from pests and diseases both in growth and during storage. Mr Taylor pointed to this situation as having developed tn western civilisation following the industrial revolution with large populations becoming separated from the sources of food production and more recently out of the population explosion. There was little doubt, he said, that in terms of production many millions of pounds in value were lost annually in New Zealand as a result of pests and diseases. Grass grub alone had been variously estimated to cost from £lsm to £2sm annually, and to this had to be added major losses from such pests as army worm, crickets, black beetle, stem weevil, etc. But Mr Taylor said that the use of agricultural chemicals might be beneficial and harmful at the same time. Thus a pest might be controlled well enough by an insecticide but this material might also kill off the predators of that pest leading to severe infestations of the pest that had been held in check. In some cases residues of insecticides in foodstuffs had raised problems of toxicity to the consumer. Effects on wild life might

be severe not only from agricultural chemicals, but from the whole pattern of agricultural development. “Bacteria becomes resistant to penicillin, rust resistant varieties of wheat break down when new strains of rust fungi appear, and mites on orchard trees develop resistance to previously effective chemicals. . . . “Manufacturers are fully aware that agricultural chemicals enter into the picture in no uncertain manner. They are also aware that the increasing demand on world food production must be met. But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot control our environment in favour of the hungry millions without extensive upset in the balance of nature which previously existed. . . , “As advances are made in biochemistry and plant and animal physiology, the whole approach to disease and pest control will become more rationalised. Not only will the use of agricultural chemicals become more selective and precise in their action, but their use will become more fully integrated within the whole framework of man’s endeavour to maintain the total balance of nature in his own favour.”

Mr J. N. Fitzgerald, assistant general manager of IvonWatkins Dow, Ltd., of New Plymouth, said that before the Second World War all pesticides and animal health products were imported into New Zealand, but after the war more and more local manufacture was involved so that today it could be said that the majority of chemicals used by the fanner were manufactured or formulated In New Zealand The value of the output of the industry was about £3.5m. Referring to the work Involved in the development of an agricultural chemical, Mr Fitzgerald said that by the time a product reached the market the cost involved was estimated at between £lm and £2m and the chemical

was usually five years old. Answering a question about the impact of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” Mr Fitzgerald maintained that all the controls were already in train and legislation already existed before the book came on'the market. It had rather meant that people had taken more notice of these things and it had given the agricultural chemical industry more prominence. “Silent Spring” had been emotional in character and it contained some inaccuracies. “I think it was written as a best seller,” said Mr Rose. Rachel Carson had had a wonderful story to tell but she had spoilt it by halftruths. “If you write a best seller you appeal to the emotions and not to reason.” Mr Taylor said that quite a lot of evidence had been brought forward but further research would have shown that a lot of the work was not factual.

Questioned about the markets for New Zealand-made agricultural chemicals in Asia, Mr Fitzgerald said that some companies were exporting to the South Pacific, but tropical agriculture was one of the big markets for agricultural chemicals and the big chemical manufacturers were already there. While admitting that the New Zealand industry was protected in that importation of a product would not be permitted if the Department of Industries was satisfied that the local product maintained world standards and price, Mr Fitzgerald said that Australia also protected its industry in the form of substantial tariffs and if it were not for a 40 per cent tariff against New Zealand goods it would be possible to export to the west coast of the United States and to Canada. Compared with overseas products Mr Fitzgerald said it had been shown that prices for New Zealand agricultural chemicals were in the low to medium range.