Isotopes in pest control

Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy. Pest control is at least as old as agriculture, as there has always been a need to keep crops free from pests. In order to maximize food production, it is advantageous to protect crops from competing species of plants, as well as from herbivores competing with humans. The Isotopes such as obalt!"# are been used as gamma!ray sources to sterilize pest. $ore specifically fruit flies. The sterilized male fruit flies by supplying big emissions of ionized radiation in a laboratory. %nd then are released into an affected area with a specific pest. They will mate with the fertile females but they will not reproduce thereby reducing the pest population. People use this mostly for their crops. It is used to help the crops grow healthy without the intervention of some other animals mostly insects that can harm a plant, fruit or crop. It is very usual to find cobalt!"# in some pest control materials because it is used as gamma!rays to repel some fruit flies The use of Isotopes to control the pest in agriculture has allowed to increase the agricultural production in the less developed countries, which has helped to improve the nutritious diet and has strengthen their competitiveness for the excess exportation.