Pesticides

Last updated on: 09/06/2010

Pesticides are substances or preparations used in agriculture. They are designed to protect crops and are used to prevent, control or eliminate undesirable organisms such as plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. They are widely used and have an impact on the environment. Certain pesticides are also linked to the development of cancer.
National and European public health measures have been introduced to improve knowledge about how pesticides contribute to the development of cancer and levels of exposure and to reduce the use of pesticides and make them more safe.

Public health plans

Sheet 2 (action 6) of the National Health Environment Action Plan 2 involves "improving knowledge about exposure to pesticides (phytosanitary and biocidal)." Following the Grenelle Environnement, the French President asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to draw up a plan to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% within 10 years, if possible. This plan is known as the Ecophyto Plan 2018. The plan also involves removing preparations containing the 53 most worrying active substances from the market. Its aim is to apply the very best low-phytosanitary-product agricultural practices universally and to conduct research into new, viable, production systems that can be rolled out to help reduce pesticide use even further. The success of the plan relies on training in the safe use of phytosanitary products to secure the widest possible support for this approach.
The plan includes measures to strengthen bioagressor monitoring networks and develop suitable treatments and to improve knowledge about the undesirable side effects that phytosanitary products have on crops and the environment. Finally, the plan also contains a strategic measure focusing on reducing the use of pesticides in non-agricultural areas and ensuring that they are used safely.
This approach forms part of a wider European effort to use pesticides in a way that is compatible with sustainable development ("directive 2009/128 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for Community action to use pesticides in a way that is compatible with sustainable development").
Against this background, the Ministries responsible for agriculture and the environment asked INRA to carry out the Ecophyto R&D study. The purpose of this study was to produce national scenarios for reducing pesticide use, to design a system for producing, managing and distributing experimental reference works on low-pesticide farming systems and to encourage farmers to adopt these new practices.
The study was published in January 2010 and involved more than 80 experts from over 30 bodies. According to this study, the amount of pesticides used nationally can be reduced by 30%. This reduction would involve major changes in practices but no substantial upheavals in production systems. It would have variable effects on production levels and margins in different sectors and at different price levels. In large-scale farming for example, which accounts for the majority of farmland and pesticide use (68% in 2006), margins would remain largely or entirely unaffected at 2006 price levels, although production would fall by around 6%.
The Ecophyto study demonstrates the need to continue and expand research into designing innovative farming systems. It also highlights the lack of knowledge about the link between reducing pesticide use and reducing toxic risks and environmental hazards, which is the objective of any such reduction.