World Pest Day 2024 celebrated every year on June 6 to create awareness of proper pest control practices and the importance of these practices to the health and of plant and human life. Interesting to know that pest management has practiced since 3000 B.C. by human beings.
Pests any organisms that a source of diseases, cause havoc, or considered a nuisance. Common rats and mice, ants, termites, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and bed bugs are usual pests that people encounter.
There several approaches to pest control including the use of chemical control, which achieved by using pesticides, the use of biocontrol agents, the use of electronics, and the use of physical control. World Pest Day or World Pest Awareness Day celebrated every third week of June and backed by the Chinese Pest Control Association.
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The Theme of World Pest Day 2024
This year’s World Pest Day theme is “Pest Management Coordinates Success: Global Solutions, Local Impact.” The goal of World Pest Day is to increase awareness of the importance of pest management organizations to protect the health of the public, advocate the profession of Pest management in a scientific and socially sensitive manner, and raise awareness of the major threats posed by small pests, subsequently; pest management organizations worldwide.
History of World Pest Day
Pest control can said to have in existence since the beginning of agriculture and while it cannot said where it began, the earliest recorded instance that recorded around 3000 BC in Egypt. The Egyptians used biocontrol and this done by introducing cats to suppress the field mice in their grain stores.
They also released mongooses into homes to eradicate rats and snakes. As early as 2500 BC, the Sumerians from Mesopotamia had incorporated sulfur compounds to act as insecticides. For instance, in 1200 B.C., the Chinese cut some trees, collected predatory ants, and used them to control pests like beetles and caterpillars that affected the citrus trees. They also used botanical insecticides to protect seeds.
Meanwhile, the progress in pest management that observed in Medieval times in other regions of the world gradually eliminated in Europe and replaced by superstition. However, this was not the case in the Renaissance period as people embraced the scientific revolution. There were new chemical repellents that developed and these included nicotine and arsenic.
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During the 1700s, a German doctor named Franz Ernst Brückmann came up with a mechanical flytrap with which he captured a myriad of insects. Brückmann later on came up with the flea trap, which was a common fashion accessory during the early Victorian period. There is no record of a specific type of mouse trap killing a mouse in the 19th Century but in 1879, James M. Keep invented a lethal mousetrap which a construction of cast-iron jaws operated by a spring.
In this period of the 1960s, the adverse effect of these chemical pesticides on the environment informed to the public. This eventually paved the way for the resurgence of biological control. While the use of chemical pest control is still modern for pest management today, the public is slowly developing a concern with traditional and organic pest control.
The Chinese Pest Control Association, for the first time, celebrated World Pest Day on the 6th of June in the year 2017 with their partners including the Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers’ Association, the National Pest Management Association, as well as the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations.
How to Celebrate World Pest Day 2024
1. Fumigate your House: If it has been a long time since you have fumigated your house or if you have never done it at all, now is the best time to do it. Consult one of the local pest control services and make an appointment for their services to rendered. You can look it up on Google Maps for fumigation service providers around your area.
2. Learn Safer Pest Control Techniques: If you are worried about the effect these chemical pest control methods have on the environment, then try using some organic pest control, such as green natural pest control products. For instance, one of the favored conservation methods is to preserve the natural predators of those pests as domesticated animals. Pets such as cats, dogs, barn owls, or birds can in some situations used to naturally eliminate rodents and some particular bugs.
3. Attend a World Pest Day Event: World Pest Day is celebrated every year by different relevant organizations. If you interested in a specific area of pest control. You can go to one that is taking place in your locality. However, you can expect to come back with new and improved methods of pest control.
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Way Forward
World Pest Day 2024, themed “Global Solutions, Local Impact: Headlined “Pest Management Co-ordinates Success,”. The article underscores the significance of pest management in the preservation of health. This day held on June 6, the purpose of which is to increase awareness. Of the public concerning the importance of pest management organizations.
Pest control has come a long way, from using simple biological methods of pest control. That early man employed down to chemical and organic pest control currently in use. Due to pest infestations that pose a severe menace to plant growth and human life. Such as rats, termites, and mosquitoes. World Pest Day 2024 fosters an international effort and scientific innovations in combating pests.