What is a pest?

What is a pest?

• A. A beneficial organism that helps crops
• B. A living thing that competes with humans for food, fiber, and space or attaches humans directly
• C. A nonliving factor that reduces crop yield
• D. A chemical used to kill pests

Answer: (B)

A pest is a living organism that causes harm by competing with people for resources such as food, fiber, and space, or by directly harming humans. In farming, this includes insects, weeds, and disease-causing organisms that reduce crop yield or quality, or vectors that bite or irritate people. It’s not a beneficial organism, not a nonliving factor like weather, and not a chemical used to control pests—the pest is the organism itself, the thing causing the trouble.

A pest is a living organism that causes harm by competing with people for resources such as food, fiber, and space, or by directly harming humans. In farming, this includes insects, weeds, and disease-causing organisms that reduce crop yield or quality, or vectors that bite or irritate people. It’s not a beneficial organism, not a nonliving factor like weather, and not a chemical used to control pests—the pest is the organism itself, the thing causing the trouble.