Any chemical or substance used to kill or inhibit the growth of pests that damage or interfere with the growth of crops, shrubs, tress, timber and other vegetation useful to humans.
In any pesticide product, the component that kills, or otherwise controls, target pests. Pesticides are regulated primarily on the basis of active ingredients.
Process by which microbes decompose complex organic compounds in the presence of oxygen and use the liberated energy for reproduction and growth. (Such processes include extended aeration, trickling ...