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TEST 2 - New Agriculture in Oregon, US
A.
Onion growers in eastern Oregon are adopting a system that saves water and keeps topsoil in
place, while producing the highest quality "super colossal" onions. Pear growers
in southern Oregon have
reduced their use of some of the most toxic pesticides by up to two-thirds, and are still producing top-quality
pears. Range managers throughout the state have controlled the poisonous weed tansy ragwort with insect
predators and saved the Oregon livestock industry up to $4.8 million a year.
B.
These are some of the results Oregon growers have achieved in collaboration with
Oregon State
University (OSU) researchers as they test new farming methods including integrated pest management
(IPM). Nationwide, however, IFM has not delivered results comparable to those in Oregon. A recent U.S
General Accounting Office (GAO) report indicates that while integrated pest management can result in
dramatically reduced pesticide use, the federal government has been lacking in
effectively promoting that
goal and implementing IPM. Farmers also blame the government for not making the new options of pest
management attractive. "Wholesale changes in the way that farmers control the pests on their farms is an
expensive business." Tony Brown, of the National Farmers Association says. "If the farmers are
given tax
breaks to offset the expenditure, then they would willingly accept the new practices." The report goes on to
note that even though the use of the riskiest pesticides has declined nationwide, they still make up more than
40 percent
of all pesticides used today; and national pesticide use has risen by 40 million kilograms since
1992. "Our food supply remains the safest and highest quality on Earth but we continue to overdose our
farmland with powerful and toxic pesticides and to under-use the safe and effective alternatives,"
charged
Patrick Leahy, who commissioned the report. Green action groups disagree about the safety issue. "There is
no way that habitual consumption of foodstuffs grown using toxic chemicals of the nature found on today's
farms can be healthy for consumers," noted Bill Bowler, spokesman for Green Action,
one of many lobbyists interested in this issue.
C.
The GAO report singles out Oregon's apple and pear producers who
have used the new IPM
techniques with growing success. Although Oregon is clearly ahead of the nation, scientists at OSU are
taking the Government Accounting Office criticisms seriously. "We must continue to develop effective
alternative practices that will reduce environmental hazards and produce
high quality products," said Paul
Jepson, a professor of entomology at OSU and new director.
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