ABSTRACT
The development and growing use of synthetic organic pesticides have been an integral part of a technological revolution in U.S. agriculture that increased productivity by 2.5-fold between 1948 and 1994 [1]. Synthetic organic pesticide use grew dramatically from the late 1940s to the early 1980s before stabilizing and increased at a much slower rate through the 1990s.† Major factors affecting the trend since 1980 have been the development and use of new pesticides with reduced application rates and of genetically modified crops that reduce or modify the use of conventional pesticides.
