To determine the year when the pesticide was most effective at reducing the size of the pest population, we need to look for the year with the minimum number of pests captured. Let's examine the given table:
[tex]\[
\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
\text{Year} & \text{Grams of Pesticide Applied per Hectare} & \text{Number of Crop Insect Pests Captured} \\
\hline
1960 & 0 & 700 \\
\hline
1975 & 500 & 2 \\
\hline
1980 & 500 & 3 \\
\hline
1985 & 500 & 8 \\
\hline
1990 & 550 & 14 \\
\hline
1995 & 600 & 83 \\
\hline
2000 & 700 & 727 \\
\hline
2005 & 800 & 1,100 \\
\hline
2010 & 900 & \\
\hline
2015 & 1,000 & \\
\hline
\end{array}
\][/tex]
From the table, we can exclude the years 2010 and 2015 since the number of pests captured in those years is not provided.
Now, let's examine the number of pests captured in the remaining years:
- 1960: 700 pests
- 1975: 2 pests
- 1980: 3 pests
- 1985: 8 pests
- 1990: 14 pests
- 1995: 83 pests
- 2000: 727 pests
- 2005: 1,100 pests
From these values, the minimum number of pests captured is 2, which occurred in the year 1975. Therefore, the year when the pesticide was most effective at reducing the size of the pest population is 1975.
