liar with crop rotation and other indigenous weed control practices used in permanent farming, and there is limited manpower available to remove the weeds manually, herbicides become the only solution to maintain subsistence level crops on permanent farms.
The government in this hypothetical case has agreed to buy an herbicide from the U.S. and sell it to farmers at a 75 percent discounted price. The herbicide is a liquid formulation with an LD50 of 4,250. Normally this is considered a safe level for use, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has refused to register the herbicide for use in the U.S. until more is known about its effect on human reproduction since preliminary toxicological data indicate that the compound is estrogenic. Laboratory studies in mice have shown that the herbicide compound binds to receptor molecules in estrogen-sensitive cells.
There are several major issues for and against using this herbicide in Africa. On the one hand, most of the farmers are living at a subsistence level and need to maximize crop production with the aid of modern technology. The herbicide would allow them to do this, and thus be able to practice permanent farming instead of using the slash-and-burn technique. This old technique is very destructive to the environment, resulting in a loss of much of the natural vegetation, and plots must be left fallow for up to 30 years before they can be used again once the soil is depleted. The manpower available is not sufficient to control the weeds, which grow at an advanced rate due to fertilization to promote crop growth, so an herbicide is much needed here.
On the other hand, the misapplication of herbicides may destroy conventional crops or create herbicide-resistance crops which are both detrimental to farming (Reichenberger 36-37). Crops such as soybeans and corn (maize) have different herbic
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