Pesticides

According to the U.S. EPA (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/about/index.htm) a pesticide is "any substance or mixture of substances intended for

• preventing,
• destroying,
• repelling, or
• mitigating any pest."

The term often brings to mind insecticides, but according to the U.S. EPA, but "pesticide" can also refer to herbicides, fungicides, and other similar substances. Pesticides are often used in an agricultural setting to get rid of weeds, bugs, and the like. The green revolution used pesticides extensively, but nowadays, some countries, like India, are suffering from the extreme use of pesticides and similar chemicals (http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/07/07/the-toxic-consequences-of-the-green-revolution).

Photo from usnews.com, taken in the village Bathinda 

According to U.S. News, farmers are voicing "...concerns that decades of chemical use is ruining the soil."