The Worldwide Importance of Pesticides

1. The Worldwide Importance of
Pesticides for Crop Production
Leonard P. Gianessi
CropLife Foundation

2. Tropical Export Crops
 Bananas, cocoa, coffee, tea, rubber
 Perennial trees/bushes that cannot
survive freezes
 Diseases, insects, and weeds flourish in
the tropics
 Without pesticides, production would
decline significantly

3. Bananas
 34 billion pounds
exported annually
 Most popular fruit in
the world

4.  Sigatoka fungal
germ tube
penetrating
opening in
banana leaf

5. Sigatoka-infected banana plants

6. Bananas: Sigatoka Disease
 Present in all banana growing countries
 In 1934, destroyed 22,000 acres of
bananas in Central America
 Fungicide treatments began in 1936
Treated
Untreated

7. Banana Export Plantations:
Today
Fungicides are applied 25‒35 times annually

8. Coffee
 Americans drink 330 million cups a day

9. Coffee Trees
4 billion coffee trees in Brazil

10. Coffee Rust
 Fungal spores
penetrate coffee
leaves

11. Coffee Rust
 Destroyed Ceylon’s coffee
plantations in 1860s
(Sri Lanka)
 Coffee production increased
in Latin America (rust not
present)

12. Coffee Rust: Today
 1970: Coffee rust detected in
Brazil
 Spread throughout Latin
America
 Fungicides are sprayed 6-9
times per season

13. Pesticide Use Markets
 Highly developed (>90% acres treated)

US, Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada
 Developing
 China, India
 Not Developing (<5% acres treated)
 Sub-Saharan Africa

14. Pesticide Use Driver:
Developed Countries
 Consumer demand for picture-perfect
produce

15.  Consumers have
zero tolerance for
wormy apples

16. U.S. apples have been sprayed with insecticides for
over 100 years

17. Cherry Fruit Fly

18. Cherry Fruit Fly Larvae

19. New Zealand: Kiwifruit
 New Zealand accounts
for 33% of world’s
trade in kiwi
 500 million pounds
exported annually

20. Brownheaded Leafroller
Caterpillar
 Found only in New
Zealand
 Present in all kiwifruit
regions
 Growers advised to
apply insecticides

21. Leafroller Damage to Kiwifruit
 In untreated
orchards, >50% of
fruit can be
damaged
 Completely
unacceptable for
export markets

22. California: Avocados
 380 million pounds
 $6000/acre
 All sold fresh

23. Avocado Thrip
 First noted in
California in 1996
 Feeds on surface

24. Avocado Thrip: Fruit Scarring
40% Reduction in Value (- $2400/A)

25. Supermarket Shopping Survey
 Two-thirds of respondents were
willing to pay 5 ‒ 10% higher prices
for certified pesticide-free produce,
yet were unwilling to accept any
cosmetic defects or insect damage.
ERS, USDA, 1990

26. Herbicide Use Driver:
Developed Countries
 Shortages of workers to weed fields
starting around the 1950s-60s
 Herbicides greatly reduced the need for
weeding by hand

27. California: Weeding Vegetable
Crops 1940s ‒ 1960s
Thousands of legal temporary workers from Mexico
in the Bracero (Strong Arm) Program

28. Hand Weeding
Millions of people weeded
U.S. cotton fields into the 1950s

29. Decline in Hand Weeding
1950s - 1960s
 Millions of Workers Left
Southern States for Urban
Factory Jobs
 The Bracero program ended in
1964
 Hand Weeding Was Replaced
with Herbicides

30. Japanese Rice Weeding: 1950s
500 Hand Weeding Hours/Ha : 1 Billion Hours Total

31. Herbicide Treated Rice: Japan
Untreated Treated
2 herbicide treatments give season-long weed control

32. Japan: Weed Control in Rice
 Herbicides replace the need for 1.89
million people weeding every day for 60
days in the summer all over Japan
Matsunaka, 2001

33. EU Rice
 90% Self sufficient in production
 400,000 hectares
Risotto Milanese Paella

34. Le Mondine

35. Le Mondine Weeding

37. Le Mondine
 Left Farmwork
for Factory
Jobs

38. EU Rice: Today
Two herbicide applications per hectare replace
hundreds of hours of hand weeding.

39. Weed Control Research: EU
Help is on the Way!

40. Weed Control Research: EU

41. Pesticide Use Drivers:
Developed Countries
 Need to produce more food for growing
populations
 Pesticides have effectively controlled
pests leading to yield increases

42. U.S. Population, 1900 - 2000
350
300
250
200
Millions
150
100
50
0
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

43. U.S. Farm Output
300
250
200
1950 = 100 150
100
50
0
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

44. U.S. Aggregate Farm Input Use
550
500
450
400
350
1950 = 100 300 Land
250 Labor
200 Machinery
150
100
50
0
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

45. U.S. Aggregate Farm Input Use
550
500
450
400
350
Land
1950 = 100 300
Labor
250
Machinery
200 Chemicals
150
100
50
0
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

46. Potato Yield: US
45000
40000
35000 Synthetic chemical
pesticides introduced
30000
Lbs/ 25000
Acre 20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

47. U.S. Rice: Weeds Not Well
Controlled Before Herbicides
Untreated Herbicide
Treated
 Hand Weeders Not Used

48. U.S. Rice Yields
Herbicide
6000 Adoption
Complete
Herbicides
Introduced
4000
Lbs./
Acre
2000
0
1899 1914 1929 1944 1959 1974 1989

49. Herbicides
 Contributed directly to improved yields due
to increased efficacy
 Facilitated the adoption of other yield-
increasing practices
 Herbicide Effectiveness Continuously
Improved 1950s-Today

50. Roundup Ready
U.S. Corn Grain Yield
Varieties
Introduced
Post-Emergence Grass
180 Herbicides Introduced
160 Alachlor/Metolachlor
Introduced
140 Atrazine
Introduced
120
2,4-D
Introduced
100
BU/Acre Fertilizers
80 Introduced
Hybrids
60 introduced
40
20
0
1865 1875 1885 1895 1905 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

51. Pesticides are used widely in agriculture in the
United States. Their application has improved
crop yields and increased the quantity of fresh
fruits and vegetables in the diet, thereby
contributing to improvements in public health.
NAS, 1993

52. Canada Wheat Yields
3
Grass Control
Herbicides
Introduced
2 Herbicides
Introduced
MT/Ha
1
0
1910 1935 1960 1985 2010

53. Australian Grain Belt

54. Tillage: Australia
Dries out the soil and delays planting

55. Australian Wheat Yield
1930-2010 (Trendlines)
78% No-Till
2
44% No-Till
10% No-till
10% No-Till 78% No-till
1.5 Herbicides
Introduced 44% No-till
T/Ha 1
Herbicides
introduced
0.5
0
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

56. Japanese Rice
 Japan is self-
sufficient in rice
 Average person
eats 5 kg of
rice/month

57. Japanese Rice
 Famines due to rice
blast

1695, 1783, 1833‒
1837
 Last major rice blast
Outbreak : 1953
 Fungicides have Rice blast
prevented outbreaks
since then

58. Monument to fungicidal rice blast
control in Nankoku, Japan

59. Norway
 5 million people
 Short growing season
 Imports 50% of food
supply
 Pesticides used on
>90% of crop acres

60. Norwegian Government
Questions
 What if food imports are cut off?
 Could a basic diet support the
Norwegian population?

61. Norwegian Government
Questions
 What if food imports are cut off?
 Could a basic diet support the
Norwegian population?
 Yes – with pesticides

62. Norwegian Government
Questions
 What if food imports are cut off?
 Could a basic diet support the
Norwegian population?
 Yes – with pesticides
 Without pesticides – 20% of the population
could not be fed

63. Pesticide Use Drivers:
Developing Markets
 Shortages of workers to hand weed
fields
 Need to produce more food for growing
population

64. China Weed/Crop Status: 1980s
 43 million hectares heavily infested
 17.5 million tons of grain lost
Weedy maize field in China

65. Hand Weeding in China
Millions of Farm Workers are
Moving to Urban Areas

66. Herbicide Use: China
Million
Hectares

67. China Wheat (#1 in World)
 Wheat losses due to rust
(million tonnes)

1950 – 6.0

1964 – 3.2
 1990 – 1.8
 2002 – 1.3
 Now: Treat 6 million Wheat rust
hectares with fungicides

68. Crop Yields : China
Rice Wheat Maize
8
6
Ton/Ha 4
2
0
1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008

69. India’s Economy
 8% annual growth in GDP
 500 million skilled laborers need to
be trained by 2022

70. Rice in India
Hand weeding

71. India: Soybeans
Herbicide treated plot Untreated plot

72. India: Crop Herbicide Market
500
416
400
300
Million
217
US$
200
100
0
2005 2010
Phillips McDougal

73. Brazil: Soybean Production
75
60
45
Million
Tons
30
15
0
1952 1962 1972 1982 1992 2002

74. Soybean Rust Pustules
 Brazil: First
appeared 2001
 By 2003: Spread to
entire country
 Yield losses up to
75%

75. Brazil: Spraying Soybeans
Fungicides increase yields by 43%

76. Brazil: Soybean Fungicide
Market
1000
800
800
600 600
600
Million
US$
400
200
200
25
0
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

77. Sub-Saharan Africa
 43 Countries
 700 Million People
 180 Million Farms

78. African Yields (Tons/hectare)
Maize Rice
Experimental Plots 8 4
Average Farmer 1-2 1

79. Optimal Yields on
Experimental Plots
 Plant at Right Time
 Weed at Right Time
 Fertilize at Right Time

80. Hand Weeding is the
Predominant Weed Control
Practice in Sub-Saharan Africa
 50-70% of the
labor in crop
production is
spent weeding

81. Constraints on Timely
Hand Weeding
 Women can be too
tired or sick (malaria)
 Fields can be muddy
 Competing time
demands: child care
 Pregnancy

82. In Africa, yield losses due to weeds range
from 20% to total crop failure.
The majority of farmers in Africa identify
weeding as the major constraint in their
farming systems.

83. The Spraying of Chemical Herbicides
is an Alternative to Hand Weeding

84. Herbicide Experiment: Kenya
Maize Yields +53%
Bean Yields +94%
Weedy Herbicide Treated

85. Herbicide Use: Smallholder
Farms
 1-5% use herbicides
 Lack of training of farmers
 Lack of training of Extension Service
workers
 Lack of spray services

86. Herbicide Use: Lack of Interest
 Weeds are seen as “women’s work”
 Governments don’t take seriously
 International development agencies are
reluctant to support pesticide strategies

87. Regional Crop Pesticide Markets
Phillips McDougal

88. Regional Crop Pesticide Markets
Phillips McDougal

89. Regional Crop Pesticide Markets
Phillips McDougal

90. Regional Crop Pesticide Markets
Phillips McDougal

91. Cereal Yields by Region
4
3
Latin
America
Asia
MT/Ha 2
Africa
1
0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
FAO

92. Conclusions
 Pesticide use increases crop production
 Freeing labor from the drudgery of
hand weeding is central to economic
growth

93. Visit Us At: www.CropLifeFoundation.org