Agro-terrorism

Agroterrorism,also known asagriterrorismandagricultural terrorism,is a malicious attempt to disrupt or destroy the agricultural industry and/or food supply system of a population through "the malicious use of plant or animalpathogensto cause devastating disease in the agricultural sectors ".It is closely related to the concepts ofbiological warfare,chemical warfareandentomological warfare,except carried out by non-state parties.

A hostile attack, towards an agricultural environment, including infrastructures and processes, in order to significantly damage national or international political interests.

Nomenclature

The termsagroterrorism,along withagroterrorandagrosecurity,were coined by veterinarian pathologist Corrie Brown and writer Esmond Choueke in September 1999 as a means to spread the importance of this topic. The first public use ofagroterrorismwas in a report by Dr. Brown which was then reprinted in a front-page article ofThe New York Timeson September 22, 1999, by reporterJudith Miller.Dr. Brown's article in 2,000 forEmerging Diseases of Animals(American Society for Microbiology) made these words a permanent fixture, and they soon ended up as part of everyday use. TheOxford Dictionarynow recognizes the wordagroterrorismand its derivatives.An initial debate by Dr. Brown and Mr. Choueke involved the spellingsagriterrorvs.agroterror.The spelling with the "o"won, as it was closest to bioterrorism and thus would be easier to remember.

Theory

Clemson University's Regulatory and Public Service Program listed "diseases vectored by insects" amongbioterrorismscenarios considered "most likely".Becauseinvasive speciesare already a problem worldwide oneUniversity of Nebraskaentomologist considered it likely that the source of any sudden appearance of a new agricultural pest would be difficult, if not impossible, to determine.Lockwood considers insects a more effective means of transmittingbiological agentsfor acts ofbioterrorismthan the actual agents.In his opinion insectvectorsare easily gathered and their eggs easily transportable without detection.Isolating and delivering biological agents, on the other hand, is extremely challenging and hazardous.

See also

• 1989 California medfly attack
• Anti-agriculture weapons
• Biosecurity
• Bioterrorism
• Eco-terrorism
• Food security
• Scorched earth
• Incendiary balloons

External links

• The Counter Agro Terrorism Research Center.ArchivedSeptember 27, 2013, at theWayback Machine
  • The Counter Agro Terrorism Research Center – About Us.ArchivedSeptember 27, 2013, at theWayback Machine
• US food supply 'vulnerable to attack' (BBC article)
• Govern Kevin,Agroterrorism and ecoterrorism: a survey of Indo-American approaches under law and policy to prevent and defend against these potential threats ahead.Winter, 2009 10 Fl. Coastal L. Rev. 223.
• The Silent Terrorist - BBC 2006