It is presumed that humans have utilized pesticides way before 2000 BC. The first popular pesticide that was known to be used is elemental sulphur dusting. It is said to be used in Sumer, in ancient Mesopotamia, 4500 years ago. It is also mentioned in the Rig Veda that some plants were used for pest control. It was by the 15th century that chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and lead were used on crops for killing pests. Nicotine sulphate was said to have been extracted from tobacco leaves, to be used as an insecticide.
Till 1950s, arsenic-based pesticides were common; and later on, Paul Muller found DDT to be effective. Later on, in the 1970s, the organophosphates and carbamates were developed. Also, common were herbicides, which were later replaced by nitrogen-based compounds. Most of the pesticides were manufactured in the developed countries just as the United States and the United Kingdom by various production companies.
