EFFECTIVENESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY OF CHEMICAL AGENTS AGAINST PESTS

Аннотация

The article analyzes the role of chemical agents in pest control in agriculture, their effectiveness level, advantages in application, and environmental risk factors. It also discusses in detail the integrated use of these tools with alternative methods, their impact on biodiversity, and the levels of risk to human health. In the study, recommendations were developed based on the principles of environmental safety. Keywords: chemical agents, pests, environmental safety, insecticide, IPM, agriculture, alternative protection methods. Introduction: The importance of pest control in the highly effective cultivation of agricultural crops is invaluable. According to statistics, 20-40% of crops worldwide perish annually due to pests, diseases, and weeds (FAO, 2022). For this reason, chemical agents - i.e., pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides) - are widely used. Their responsiveness and wide range of protective capabilities attract agricultural producers. However, the negative impact of these chemicals on nature, beneficial insects, and human health has been widely discussed in recent years. This situation violates the principles of environmental safety, especially the increasing amount of toxic residues in the food chain. Therefore, determining the ecological effectiveness of pesticides and studying their integration into alternative methods has become one of the important scientific and technical issues. Methods: Analytical and statistical analysis methods were used in the study. Through the analysis of scientific literature, more than 40 scientific articles and reports published in 2018-2024 were studied. Also, the results of experiments using selective insecticides (imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin, chlorpyrifos) on 3 farms in different agro-climatic regions of Uzbekistan (Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Fergana regions) were analyzed. Indicators used: • Pest reduction rate • Factors that negatively affect the ecosystem (biota analysis) • Toxicity index (LD50) • Residual pesticide quantity (MRL) 147 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference Statistical analysis was carried out using Excel and SPSS programs.