The Future Role of Pesticides in US Agriculture (2000) / Chapter Skim
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6 Conclusions and Recommendations
6 Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 250-274
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. Determine what types of chemical products are the most appropriate tools for ecologically based pest management.
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and on the potential to reduce overall risks by improving IPM approaches that use chemicals under diverse conditions soils, crops, climates, and farm-management practices. The committee concluded that uses and potential effects of chemical pesticides and alternatives to improve pest management vary considerably among ecosystems.
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There remains a need for new chemicals that are compatible with ecologically based pest management and applicator and worker safety. Food residues have been addressed in previous National Research Council reports (for example, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children,
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As for the third charge to identify the most promising opportunities for increasing benefits of and reducing risks posed by pesticide use the committee identified these: · Make research investments and policy changes that emphasize development of pesticides and application technologies that pose reduced health risks and are compatible with ecologically based pest management. · Promote scientific and social initiatives to make development and use of alternatives to pesticides more competitive in a wide variety of managed and natural ecosystems.
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· Reduce the overall environmental impact of the agricultural enterprise. The most promising opportunity for increasing benefits and reducing risks is to invest time, money, and effort into developing a diverse toolbox of pest-management strategies that include safe products and practices that integrate chemical approaches into an overall, ecologically based framework to optimize sustainable production, environmental quality, and human health.
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A considerable body of evidence exists on potential risks posed by and benefits of established categories of some pesticides; however, there are many uncertainties in measuring the full array of benefits and costs of pesticide use. Furthermore, the Food Quality Protection Act has fundamentally changed the use of cost-benefit analyses in that the law now largely precludes consideration of benefits.
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To meet those emerging global pest problems, researchers will need to develop effective, environmentally compatible, and efficient pest controls as a complement to a suite of prevention strategies. Nontarget effects of exposure of humans and the environment to pesticide residues are a continuing concern.
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1990, Vangessel et al.1996~. Because pests will continue to evolve in response to pest controls, research needs to support development of pest-management tools that reduce selection pressure, delay selection for resistance, and thus increase the life of chemical and other products.
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. Because one avenue to reduce side effects of pesticides is improving application technologies, and the private sector might not invest in developing such innovations until policy incentives are enacted, the public sector can conduct some basic research in application technology to identify feasible avenues that will provide basic information in assessing new regulations.
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A greater emphasis on research not only on chemicals themselves, but also on the ecological consequences of pesticide use can increase the probability that new products will be readily integrated into ecologically based pest-management systems. Pest biology and management studies represented some 15-17% of the funding allocations under NRI in 1998 and 1999; however, only 15 studies of biologically based pest management were funded in each of the last 2 years (USDA 2000~.
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The lack of basic information on pest population spatial and temporal dynamics is a major impediment to implementation of ecologically based pest management. NSF and EPA could make an important contribution by funding research associated with understanding of pest-population and community dynamics.
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Research priorities include elucidating impacts of increasing benefit perceptions in risk communication, developing empirical methods for more accurate characterization of public perceptions, identifying reasons for differing qualitative and quantitative perceptions about pesticide technology and agrobiotechnology, and determining whether risk communication can reduce the gap that exists between public perceptions and scientific risk assessments (Petersen 2000~. Funding of New Ventures in Agricultural Biotechnology and Biopesticides A broad body of research in economics and policy has investigated the role of the public sector in the economy (Laffont 1988~.
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Because the environmental effects of pesticides can vary with location, one policy approach to reduce pesticide use in an environmentally sensitive area is to institute programs like the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to modify their behavior in a way that will promote improved environmental quality. Another practical policy that seems to have worked is to condition entitlement to government programs on meeting specified criteria of environmental stewardship.
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The public sector has a unique role to play in supporting research on minor use cropping systems, where the inadequate availability of appropriate chemicals and the lack of environmentally and economically acceptable alternatives to synthetic chemicals contribute disproportionately to concerns about chemical impacts. The public sector can foster innovation in product development and pest-management practices by continuing to reduce barriers to investment by the private sector and by increasing implementation of regulatory processes that encourage product and practice development.
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New tools for ecologically based pest management could get a boost if new companies could successfully compete for ATP funding for developing new IPM tools and alternatives. Recommendation 4b.
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At the farm level, incentives for adopting efficient and environmentally sound integrated pest-management and ecologically based pest-management systems can come from · Expanding crop insurance for adoption of integrated pest-management and ecologically based pest-management systems practices. · Implementing taxes and fees on environmentally higher-risk practices.
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Funds should be assigned to assess compliance with Worker Protection Standards and to improve worker health and safety in specialty crops. Worker safety in specialty crops is a serious concern (Chapter 3~.
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As long as there is a demand for pesticide-based solutions to pest-control problems, the education system has to train people to work in this field and to provide independent pesticide expertise in the public sector. Because we agree that pest-control choices have to be determined in the context of a perspective that incorporates biophysical, ecological, and economic considerations, education should emphasis basic principles and knowledge that will lead to informed decisions.
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The public sector must act on its responsibility to provide quality education to ensure well-informed decision-making in both the private and public sectors. This effort encompasses efforts in the agricultural sector, in the academic sector, and in the public sector at large.
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The public sector should provide incentives and training for scientists to communicate effectively to the public about principles and practices of ecologically based pest management. Such incentives are almost nonexistent in many institutions, particularly outside the agriculture colleges.
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Corn herbicide evaluation for southern Minnesota, efficacy and an economic analysis. Proceedings of the North Central Weed Science Society: 101-102.
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 273 Zilberman, D
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