Category Archives: Pesticides

Sacrebleu! French Artichoke Production Threatened!

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A lot can be learned about the benefits of pesticides when key pesticides are no longer available for use. In 2007, the only herbicide effective on broadleaf weeds in artichoke fields was canceled in France. A recent report describes the consequences…

“To illustrate the economic damage caused by the lack of plant protection products for weed control in artichoke production in France, we took the specific case study of a farm in the Brittany region. The direct cost and indirect impact of the implementation of an alternative weed control solution, i.e. mechanical weed control accompanied by a manual hoeing, is summarized.”

“At farm level, the lack of registered plant protection products for weed control of artichoke caused a decrease in the net margin of 1,020 €/ha for a culture of artichoke for 3 years. As in France artichokes are grown on 9,000 ha, at the scale of the total artichoke production sector, the direct loss of profit amounts to slightly less than 10,000,000 €. In the long term, farms may not be economically viable because the net margin is too low (1,979 €/ha for 3 years, or 660 €/ha for one year) to allow profitable production from one year to another. Therefore, some farms may disappear due to the lack of profitability. This will affect employment in production, but also in all the downstream activities (packaging, marketing, shipping…).”

“For example, in northern Brittany, 900 growers produce artichoke as principal crop. Most of these producers employ the equivalent of 2.7 FTE (Full Time Equivalent). The absence of chemical herbicides allowed on artichoke therefore threatens the equivalent of 2,430 FTE in this region, without counting jobs indirectly linked to production. Moreover, a majority of producers performs crop rotation associating artichokes to cauliflowers. The difficulty of growing artichoke crops will affect the production of cauliflower. The entire economy of this vegetable producing area could be compromised.”

Publication: Study on the Establishment of a European Fund for Minor Uses in the Field of Plant Protection Products. June 2011.
Project Leader: ARCADIA International

Better Pesticides Contributed Greatly to Increased Rice Yields in Arkansas

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Arkansas is the leading rice-producing state in the US. The average yield of Arkansas rice has steadily increased over the past twenty years. The introduction of new pesticide products, e.g., an herbicide that selectively removes weedy red rice from commercial rice without harming the crop, has played a major role in this increased yield.

“During the past 20 years, the state-average yields in Arkansas have increased approximately 1780 lb/acre (about 40 bu/acre) or 2 bu/acre/year. This increase can be attributed to improved varieties and improved management, including such things as better herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, improved water management through precision leveling and multiple inlet poly-pipe irrigation, improved fertilizer efficiency, and increased understanding of other practices such as seeding dates and tillage practices.”

Authors: C.E. Wilson, Jr., S.K. Runsick and R. Mazzanti
Affiliation: University of Arkansas at Monticello
Title: Trends in Arkansas Rice Production.
Publication: AAES Research Series 581. B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2009.

Nutritionists Credit Pesticides for Widespread Availability of Apples in the American Diet

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Apple production has come a long way in the U.S. thanks to the protection against insects and diseases provided by pesticides. In fact, without pesticides, this important fruit would largely disappear from our diets. A point recently made by nutritionists from the University of Nebraska…

“Apples play an important role in the American diet. … Apples and apple products offer several important health benefits. Besides supplying key nutrients, apples contain important compounds that may protect against cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases.”

“The availability and judicious use of pesticides is important for the production of high-quality apples. Without the use of pesticides, there would be very few apples grown in the United States. Pesticides protect the fruit from attack by insects, mites, disease organisms, and weeds. … Pesticides are necessary to produce an abundant, consumer-accepted, affordable apple supply.”

Authors: Lewis, N. and Ruud, J.
Affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Nebraska
Title: Apples in the American diet.
Publication: Nutrition in Clinical Care. 2004. 7(2): 82-88.

National Academy of Sciences Credits Pesticides with Improving American Diet

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Americans take for granted a plentiful, inexpensive daily supply of fruit and vegetables. This bounty has come about due to increased production throughout the county as a result of pesticide use – a point made by the National Academy of Science…

“Pesticides are used widely in agriculture in the United States. When effectively applied, pesticides can kill or control pests, including weeds, insects, fungi, bacteria, and rodents. Chemical pest control has contributed to dramatic increases in yields for most major fruit and vegetable crops. Its use has led to substantial improvements over the past 40 years in the quantity and variety of the U.S. diet and thus in the health of the public.“

Authors: National Research Council
Affiliation: National Academy of Sciences
Publication: Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. 1993. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

Organic Methods are Not an Option for Feeding China

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China has made remarkable progress in increasing food production to feed its growing population. China can feed itself thanks to the widespread adoption of chemical pesticides and industrial fertilizers. Organic yields are considerably lower without these inputs, which means that widespread adoption of organic practices is not an option for feeding China’s 1.3 billion people.

“Today, China provides enough food for 21% of the world’s population from 9% of the world’s cultivated land. From 1949 to 2000, China’s population increased from 450 million to over 1200 million. During the same period, China’s food crop production increased from 130 Mt to 550 Mt. … This remarkable increase has led China to be able to feed its people.”

“Although organic farming is an old system brought out as a new concept, in our view it is not a practical national farming system for many developing countries – like China. … In organic farming, crop yields and production efficiency are lower and the unit cost of production higher. To produce the same total quantity of any crop, a larger area of land is needed. This additional area is not available in China, so that organic farming on a large scale is not an option to be advocated.”

Authors: Fang Chen & Kaiyuan Wan
Affiliation: Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
Title: The impact of organic agriculture on food quantity, food quality and the environment: a China perspective (Letter to the Editor).
Publication: Soil Use and Management (2005) 21:73-74. Available: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-2743.2005.tb00109.x/abstract

U.S. Crop Losses Significantly Reduced with Pesticides

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Prior to the widespread adoption of synthetic chemical pesticides in U.S. crop production in the 1950s, many pests were destroying a significant portion of the food supply. Following the widespread adoption of pesticide use, the losses due to pests were reduced significantly. This point was made in an economic analysis by University of Maryland researchers…..

“… models indicate crop damage on the order of 15% during the early 1950s and crop damage falling steadily as pesticide use spread, reaching 11% in the mid 1960s, 6% in the mid 1970s, and stabilizing at about 3% from 1979 through the ensuing decade.”

Authors: Robert G. Chambers and Erik Lichtenberg
Affiliation: University of Maryland Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics
Title: Simple econometrics of pesticide productivity.
Publication: American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 1994. 76:407-417.

Fertilizer Benefits Depend on Pesticide Use

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Much of the credit for increased crop yields in the past 50 years has been assigned to the use of fertilizers. However, the full value of fertilizers can only be realized if crop pests are controlled. For example, without herbicides to control weeds, much of the fertilizer would simply be used up by weeds and the crops would not receive the full benefit. A UK researcher made this point in an article on 21st century crop improvements…

“Advances in agronomy have stemmed from the continued use of fertilizers, … the true value of which could only be realized in the presence of suitable varieties and in the absence of competition from weeds, pest and diseases. The latter protection of crops has depended on the developments of the agrochemical industry which has developed sophisticated chemical syntheses and screening technologies. … These improvements have brought large social gains, for example, in greater food security, lowering of malnutrition, lower prices freeing up income for other discretionary activities, vastly greater food choices, and safer foods…”

Author: Ben Miflin
Affiliation: IACR Rothamsted
Title: Crop improvement in the 21st century
Publication: Journal of Experimental Botany. 2000. 51(342):1-8.