Reducing our dependence on chemical pesticides Clare Butler Ellis UK and Europe programme coordinator Reducing our dependence on chemical pesticides • How dependent are we? • Why is pesticide dependence a problem? • What can we do? • The challenges that need to be addressed How dependent are we on chemical pesticides? Tonnes of active ingredient applied to agricultural land 38000 tonnes ai 36000 34000 32000 30000 28000 26000 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Pesticide usage survey, CSL pesticide(g ai) per kg cereals 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 pesticide (kg ai) per ha cereals 4.1 3.9 g/ha g/kg 0.6 3.7 3.5 3.3 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 pesticide (g ai) per kg orchard fruit 1.35 1.3 1.2 1.15 1.1 1.05 1 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 pesticide (kg ai) per ha orchard 13.5 13 12.5 kg/ga g/kg 1.25 12 11.5 11 10.5 10 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Industry sales - CPA Pesticide Forum, Indicators report 2005 Alternatively managed land 2005 Organic • 4,443,000 ha crops in UK • 72,000 ha organic crops – 1.6% Integrated Pest Management • 18.5 million ha agricultural land in UK • >100 000 ha farmed to LeafMarque standards – 0.5% Source: Defra, Leaf How dependent are we? • CPA: “Farmers need pesticides to help them protect their crops from pests, fungi and weeds so they can provide the quantity and quality of food we need that is safe to eat”. • ECPA: “Many people are familiar with the popular arguments against crop protection products, but few are aware of how these same products keep their food safe”. • PRC: “Pests, weed and diseases can all have devastating effects on the quantity and quality of crops grown for human consumption and without pesticides we could lose one third of world crops each year” How dependent are we? Implication is that without pesticides • our food will be unsafe • There will not be enough food As a consequence • The vast majority of our food and our agricultural land has pesticides applied We need to remember that pest management ≠ chemical pesticides Why is our dependence on chemicals a problem? Pesticide problems: • Pesticides deliberately made to be toxic and released into the environment • Present in the environment, food, water and our bodies • Responsible for environmental damage, particularly loss of biodiversity • Have known, well documented acute health effects • Increasing evidence of a link between low level exposure and disease ¾Pesticide use is incompatible with sustainable agriculture What’s the evidence? Environmental damage • Declining farmland birds – organic farms have 44 per cent more birds in fields Population trends for 3 farmland birds Pesticide Forum indicators report 2005 What’s the evidence? Environmental damage • Declining farmland birds – organic farms have 44 per cent more birds in fields • Declining plant species and invertebrates – e.g. declining pollinating bees and pollinationdependant wildflowers – organic farms have more than five times as many wild plants • Soil biodiversity? • Aquatic biodiversity? Not all attributable directly to pesticides, but to intensive agriculture, of which pesticides are an inextricable part Human Health • Reports of incidents to PIAP – 70 people alleged to have suffered ill health – Only 5 unrelated to pesticides • HSE also recorded one accidental death (paraquat) • Alleged Ill health also reported to – AgChem companies (177 cases) – Local authorities (PAN UK survey: 20 replies out of 468 L.A.s – 11 cases) – National Poisons Information Service (426 cases with symptoms, including 2 deaths) – PAN UK (16 cases) – Others? Chronic ill health Evidence is growing for a link with pesticides: • Parkinson’s disease • Cancer – especially prostate cancer and breast cancer Too poorly understood to be able to make connections: • Multiple chemical sensitivity/ME • Other chronic diseases Problems of pesticides • Too great to ignore • Too uncertain to be controllable What can we do? Current trends • Address symptoms of pesticides in the environment, rather than the route cause • Mitigate, rather than eliminate, pesticide impacts • Voluntary, rather than compulsory, behaviour changes Increasing cost ¾ Increasing burden on farmers, in time, admin, education and cost ¾ Increasing regulatory measures & policy initiatives ¾ EU thematic strategy ¾ National strategy ¾ Voluntary initiative ¾ Water framework directive ¾ Biodiversity actions ¾ Public health – RCEP ¾ Recording and reporting ¾ Residue reduction Adressing the root cause of pesticide impacts – the high levels of use – will be a more efficient use of resources Pesticide impacts = pesticide hazard x quantity of pesticide used x proportion off-target Reductions in the hazard and the quantity are needed as well as reductions in off-target proportion What can we do? • Eliminate the most hazardous pesticides • Implement a use reduction policy • Record where, which, how much and why pesticides are used • Promote more sustainable pest management The challenges Alternatives to chemical pesticides Research and development • $2.2 billion per annum spent on conventional pesticides Registration • Currently too expensive for niche market products and inappropriate for non-chemical products Education and advice • 70% of arable land has advice from ag-chem industry Alternatives to chemical pesticides Economic incentives • Pesticides cheap and easy • Agri-environment schemes don’t currently help redress balance • Pesticide tax rejected • Additional cost cannot be passed on to consumer Conclusions • Many drivers for moving away from chemical pesticides • Huge inertia • Alternatives are not readily available – Few commercially-available products – More expensive – More labour-intensive – More knowledge needed – Incentives essential