Crop Dusting, Brawley, California, 2005
Photograph by Gerd Ludwig
A setting sun casts a fiery glow over a crop duster spreading pesticides in a Brawley, California, field. In addition to controlling insects, bacterial diseases, and weeds, crop dusting can be used to apply fertilizers, delay fruit ripening, increase or decrease the number of fruit a plant produces, and defoliate plants to facilitate harvest. Biologists and farmers continue to weigh its costs and benefits.
