Do Pesticides Create Soil Erosion?
- Overgrazing, removal of vegetation and agricultural practices are the primary causes of excessive soil erosion. Natural erosion processes result from wind and water moving soil. Soil replenishment is created by the decomposition of vegetation and wildlife into topsoil, where microorganisms transform it into healthy soil. Agricultural chemicals, such as garden pesticides, kill the microorganism population in the soil. It takes nature 500 years to create 1 inch of productive topsoil.
- Pesticide is the general term for chemical compounds designed to kill, prevent, suppress or repel unwanted animals, insects or plants. It includes home garden weed killers, fungicides, rodenticides, growth regulators, insect control products and snail bait. The growth of plants depends on healthy microorganisms in soil. Pesticide and other agricultural chemical compounds kill them. Microorganisms interact to create nutrients, transport water and oxygen and create the soil structure that prevents erosion.
- Adding organic matter to the soil prevents erosion. Healthy soil that resists erosion contains from 3 to 5 percent organic matter. The billions of microorganisms in each teaspoonful of soil retain water, decompose organic matter and distribute nutrients. Pesticide interrupts this process, leaving soil gray, lifeless and vulnerable to erosion. Pesticides also lower the population of earthworms, which further degrades soil resistance to erosion.
- Home gardeners prevent soil erosion and loss of soil health by replenishing with organic matter, mulching, using the least toxic pest control and practicing low-till methods. Excessive tilling destroys soil structure and microorganism habitats. Erosion can be prevented by adding mature compost to soil regularly. Maintaining a backyard compost pile is the easiest method for soil replenishment and erosion prevention.
