
Pesticide-free farming strategies offer billions of dollars in benefits across Asia-Pacific
Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Pesticide-free pest control strategies paid serious economic dividends throughout the Asia-Pacific region in the last century, yielding annual benefits between $ 14.6 to $ 19.5 billion across 23 countries. According to the new research, detailed Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, non-chemical crop protection has proven far more valuable than the development of high-yield grain varieties, often referred to as the Green Revolution. Advertisement For the study, scientists examined biological efforts for 43 exotic invertebrate pests across the Asia-Pacific. The surveyed control efforts were overwhelmingly successful, resulting in between 73 and 100 percent yield loss reductions across a range of crops, including banana, breadfruit, cassava and coconut. "The G...