The agrochemical is specialization of the chemistry that involves the use of organic substances within an industry and the application of chemical products (such as pesticides and fertilizers) in agricultural activities.
By extension, the chemical used by humans with the aim of optimizing the performance of a farm is known as an agrochemical. These products are often used to fight pests that affect crops and to promote faster growth of plants.
In the same way, we cannot overlook another important series of functions that the aforementioned agrochemicals perform. Specifically, they include providing the necessary amount of nutrients to the soil, killing microorganisms that are damaging the soil or directly crops, and removing any weeds that may exist.
The pesticides, therefore, can be agrochemicals. The products are spread through fumigation with the intention of keeping away from the crops those species that can harm them. There are liquid, solid and gaseous pesticides.
Depending on the pest they fight, pesticides can be divided into fungicides (kill fungi), bactericides (bacteria), insecticides (insects) and other groups. It is important to keep in mind that these agrochemicals, even though they can help control pests, can also have harmful effects on the environment and on people’s health.
In addition to the aforementioned agrochemicals, we must not forget others that are also widely used in agriculture. We are referring to some like these:
-Herbicides, which are the main function of which is to carry out the elimination of all kinds of plants that are harmful to the soil.
-The acaricides, which are responsible for managing to repel mites.
-Rodenticides, which are intended to kill rodents that cause damage to crops and, furthermore, have the particularity that they can transmit certain diseases to humans.
-Nematicides, which are used by farmers to get rid of the worms that appear in the soil and certain parasites that appear on plants.
-The phytoregulators, who come to regulate what is the growth of crops and do it through what is called phytohormones. In this way, according to each moment, they promote or slow down the development of the roots.
-Fertilizers, which, as the name suggests, are the agrochemicals responsible for facilitating and speeding up the growth of certain plants.
Most agrochemicals are toxic and, in some cases, can be lethal to humans when ingested, inhaled, or touched. The main danger lies in the fact that most of the agrochemical that is sprayed goes beyond the sector that is intended to be sprayed because, due to wind and other factors, they end up reaching different places. In this way, agrochemicals can contaminate the water that people use, for example.
