Pesticide Use in Northern Ireland’s Arable Crops from 1992–2016 and Implications for Future Policy Development

Abstract

Abstract:Since the 1960s, the objective for the United Kingdom (UK) government policy and legislation on crop protection practices has been to minimise the impact of pesticide use in agriculture and horticulture to the wider environment. Subsequent European Union (EU) policy and legislation have also targeted this objective through a demanding approvals process, competency tests for users, maximum residue limits, regular post-registration monitoring and the promotion of integrated pest and disease management techniques. However, none of this substantive regulation refers to target reduction levels for pesticide use. Since 1992, the number of arable farms in Northern Ireland has decreased by 61% with a consequent reduction of 34% in the area of arable crops grown. Despite this reduction in area of arable crops grown, the area treated by the major pesticide groups increased by 49% due to intensification, but the weight of major pesticides applied to arable crops decreased by 37%. However, the intensity of application measured by the total quantity of all pesticides applied to the basic area of arable crops treated remained relatively constant at approximately 3.2 kg/ha. Pesticide usage trends and reduction policies in other geographic regions are also discussed for comparative purposes.

Defence gene expression and phloem quality contribute to mesophyll and phloem resistance to aphids in wild barley

“…Aphids are primarily controlled by insecticides and as a consequence insecticide use is increasing (Jess et al, 2018), leading to the emergence of insecticide-resistant aphid populations (Chen et al, 2007;Foster et al, 2014), negative impacts on non-target organism (Unal and Jepson, 1991;James et al, 2016), and a potential increase in BYDV prevalence (Dewar and Foster, 2017). This has resulted in legislative restrictions on insecticide use and promotion of integrated pest management (Directive, 2009/128/EC).…”

Fungicides, herbicides and bees: A systematic review of existing research and methods

“…These include fungicides, which target fungal disease, and herbicides, which target unwanted plants. Although insecticides are used globally, they are outweighed in terms of both tonnes of sales and tonnage applied [23, 24], and market value [25], by fungicides and herbicides. Much research on the environmental consequences of herbicide use has focussed on factors such as weed resistance due to over-use [26, 27] and water and soil contamination [15, 28–30], whilst both fungicides and herbicides have been scrutinized for possible effects on human health [14, 31, 32].…”

Applying Hierarchical Task Analysis to Depict Human Safety Errors during Pesticide Use in Vineyard Cultivation

“…This has led to the issue of stricter standards and regulations with respect to the introduction of new products into the market and their labelling criteria [5][6][7]. Accordingly, a more sustainable use of pesticides has been promoted, for instance, in European Union (EU) countries, the issuance of Directive 2009/128/EC [8] has led to significant changes at a practical level by introducing specific measures for the training of users and the inspection of the equipment used for pesticide application [9,10]. The users of pesticides need specific training in order to mitigate occupational health and safety (OHS) issues and to acquire sufficient knowledge regarding the hazards and risks associated with pesticides.…”