
Giulia Di Tommaso, President and CEO of CropLife International Continue reading
To protect mature mango trees from disease and insect infestations, growers in the Philippines in provinces such as Batangas, Laguna, Pangasinan, Davao and Cebu used to be heavy users of crop protection products. Spray applicators would regularly climb the trees with equipment to apply products. Accidents involving workers falling from trees and sustaining injuries were common, as was heavy exposure to pesticide.
To improve safety for spray applicators, CropLife Philippines partnered with the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority between 2006 and 2008 to develop an innovative crop protection product applicator. The extendable pole, made from either bamboo or aluminum alloy, enables spray applicators to spray mango trees from the ground. The partners have documented the methodology in a training handbook to benefit the industry, applicators and growers.
In addition to creating the extendable pole for spray applicators, the partners also launched training initiatives on Good Agricultural Practices, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM is an effective and environmentally friendly method of controlling pests. Farmers have learnt how to identify plant diseases and insect infestation levels and make decisions on the type and amount of pesticide to use by following the exact instructions on the product labels.
Visit www.croplifeasia.org to learn more about work towards sustainable agriculture across the Asia Pacific region.
A new report has examined the value of crop protection to consumers in the UK, and estimated that without pesticide products, food prices would rise by 40%.
With no pesticides to keep weeds, pests and diseases in check, crop yields would fall to half their current levels, leading to higher food prices, concludes the report. Annually, this increase would amount to some £70 billion in food costs.
Released last Monday alongside the Chatham House Food Security 2010 conference, the report was written by economist Sean Rickard of Cranfield University who argues that the contribution of modern crop protection products extends beyond the higher living standards and health benefits resulting from lower food prices and more efficient food production, with benefits ranging from the discovery of new knowledge through to safeguarding the quality and enjoyment of the countryside.
The report, entitled The Value of Crop Protection – An Assessment of the Full Benefits for the Food Chain and Living Standards, was commissioned by the UK Crop Protection Association to highlight the risks of failing to support innovation and investment in crop protection technology.
In developed countries such as the UK, the report warns that higher food prices would create pressures on disposable incomes with adverse inflationary impacts on the economy, while consumers would also suffer a reduction in the health benefits associated with a wide choice of affordable fresh fruit and vegetables.
In developing countries, higher food prices would threaten the pace of development and in the world’s poorest regions they would lead to increased hunger and malnutrition.
The report’s headline conclusions are that in world without pesticides:
Commenting on the report’s conclusions, CPA chief executive Dominic Dyer said:
This study sends a clear message that access to the most advanced farming technologies is essential, not only to maintain the quality, consistency and affordability of our food supply, but also to keep UK agriculture competitive and to safeguard jobs, growth and wealth creation within the rest of the food chain.
A case study done in Uganda found that weeding absorbed over 50% of smallholder farmers’ production costs.
It also occurs at times when the demand for labour is quite high and needed for many farm activities.
Crop protection products such as herbicides and the adoption of best practices can help reduce this burden.
In the Ugandan case study, farmers found that adopting conservation agriculture practices greatly reduced the labour they needed for weeding, sometimes by as much as 50 days worth of labour. Thus, instead of requiring 73 days under their usual pattern, they only needed 22 days when using herbicide, or even as few as 5 days when practicing no-till.