Although the world population has doubled in the last 40 years, the area of land devoted to food production has remained virtually constant; crop protection products have enabled farmers to produce higher yields of their crops on less land. In fact, U.S. farmers provide 18% of the world’s food supply on only 10% of the world’s farmland.
Consumers expect high quality fruit and vegetables; this means produce free of insect blemishes and insect contamination. Before the introduction of insecticides, holes, scars, and surface tunnels made my insects feeding on crops could often be found in produce sold to consumers in addition to insect fragments in canned products. Before the introduction of insecticides, blueberries often contained maggots, aphids - also known as plant lice - could be found in canned spinach, and fruitworm in tomatoes. Insecticides reduce and, in some cases, eliminate, insect damage allowing the consumer to purchase blemish-free, high quality produce.