Question

A farmer made a pesticide (a chemical that keeps insects away) from the leaves of the plant and sprayed it on his crops. The first year it is extremely effective and the farm loses only 1% of its crop to insects. Make a prediction as to the effectiveness of the pesticide in 5 years, be sure to give evidence to support your claim.

Answer 1

Answer:

See the answer below

Explanation:

In 5 years, the effectiveness of the pesticide would have reduced because the forces of natural selection would continue to act on the population of the insects and ensures that only those that are fit survive and contribute more to the subsequent generations.

Each year the pesticide is administered, those that are not able to adapt to its effects die off, leaving those that posses the pesticide-resistant genes to survive, reproduce, and give birth to offspring that would have inherited the survival gene and become resistant to the pesticide themselves.

Hence, in 5 years, more of the population of the insect would survive the effects of the pesticide leading to a reduction in its effectiveness. The population of the insect is said to have evolved by natural slection according to Darwin.