Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

Policy
In many developing countries, pesticides that have been banned or restricted
in developed countries are widely used. In addition, some pesticides that are
approved for use in developed countries are not safe for use in developing
countries because of higher operator-exposure rates. IDRC projects are starting
to address both of these issues.
A small team led by the Pesticides Trust, UK, is working closely with a
consortium of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) including the Pesticide
Action Network, Malaysia. The researchers are assisting in monitoring
and investigating compliance to the FAO (1986) code of conduct for pesticide
use, especially the principle of prior informed consent (Pesticides Trust 1989).
Conclusion
Pest management problems will continue as new pests appear and others
become resistant to existing controls. The most urgent need is to develop
alternative control systems. This requires emphasis on research into
biocontrol, microbials, botanicals, and cultural control, supplemented by continued
efforts in breeding, particularly for horizontal resistance, and 1PM.
However, it is becoming increasingly clear that pest problems in some cases
are the symptom of much wider problems. Pest problems often increase when
plants are stressed (White 1984). The nitrogen status of a plant can also be a
factor (Mattson 1980). It is, therefore, important to take a "systems" view of
pest management.
New research methods will be required for investigating many of the alternative
pest-management systems being developed. Traditionally, pesticide
experiments adopt an intensive approach in which experiments are done at a
few sites and results extrapolated to a much larger area, because the pesticides
are applied at saturation levels and minimize site-to-site variation. However,
an extensive approach is necessary with alternative biological control systems,
because between-site variability is much greater and a large number of multilocational
trials are needed. Ultimately, the farmers must be more involved in
the search for feasible alternatives. Many of the techniques used in farming
systems research are applicable in this context (MacKay 1989).
Different skills are also needed by farmers. Alternative pest-management
strategies require more knowledge than the chemical strategies they are
designed to replace. There is a much greater need to determine not only
farmers' indigenous knowledge and current practices, but, more importantly,
farmers' attitudes to pests and pest management and the process of decisionmaking
(especially gender issues). Despite knowledge of the harmful effects
of chemical pesticides, farmers continue to use them (Rola 1988). This appears
to be partly due to lack of knowledge of alternatives, but also to the reluctance
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