November 15, 1999
Embargoed until 0800 Monday 15 November 1999
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has released a research report reviewing trends in agricultural pesticide use in New Zealand which shows an overall reduction in the use of pesticides.
The research was commissioned by MAF in April of this year. Dr Pat Holland and Dr Anis Rahman of the Horticulture and Food Research Institute, have now delivered their report.
Current use of pesticides in New Zealand has been established on a tonnage basis, with division of pesticides into categories and classes established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Further sub-classes were generated for some specific pesticides of current or growing importance in New Zealand. The overall use data relied mainly on Agcarm annual survey data, although this information does not cover all sales, and the classification scheme is different from FAO's.
A comparison was undertaken between the current usage and data gathered in previous surveys. The data was not exactly comparable, but the overall conclusions were that total pesticide use (excluding mineral oil) grew between 1984 and 1994, reaching a peak of about 3700 tonnes of active ingredient per annum, and has since declined to the 1998 total of 3300 tonnes.
Herbicides continue to dominate pesticide use (68%) followed by fungicides (24%) and insecticides (8%). About two thirds of total use is concentrated in four classes of pesticides (phenoxy hormones, phosphonyls, inorganic fungicides, dithiocarbamates) which have excellent records of very low human and environmental risks when used as per label recommendations.
Changes in use of the major pesticide classes were tracked over the past decade. There were significant declines in ‘other' hormone herbicides, organophosphorus insecticides and dicarboximide fungicides, while phosphonyl herbicides (mainly glyphosate), triazine herbicides, sulfonylurea herbicides and pyrethroid insecticides all increased.
These changes reflect trends in land use (more forestry), cost-effectiveness (more glyphosate and sulfonylureas, less ‘other' hormone herbicides) and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) (more biologicals, less organophosphates, less dicarboximides).
Detailed end-user information was also gathered at the sector level. This unique data will serve as a baseline to measure future trends and has provided insights on specific plant protection issues and strategies within each sector.
Pesticide use in pastoral agriculture is static or declining. The use pattern for this sector comprises almost solely herbicides for broadleaf and brush weed control. Cereals and other arable crops also mainly use herbicides, with resistant cultivars and IPM techniques contributing to reduced insecticide and fungicide inputs. Apple crops still have relatively high use of pesticides despite increased adoption of integrated fruit production (IFP) strategies. Most kiwifruit is produced under either the Kiwigreen (IFP) or organic production systems. Kiwigreen is a notable success for more biologically oriented insect and disease control.
Pesticide use in process vegetables such as asparagus, green peas and sweetcorn is relatively low and is mainly concentrated on early season weed control. In contrast, fresh vegetables such as lettuce, brassicas and potatoes tend to have intensive spray programmes throughout the growing season. Onions receive very frequent pesticide applications and there are concerns over the sustainability of current plant protection strategies in this crop.
Pesticide use in plantation forestry is concentrated on weed control during the first 1-2 years establishment phase of the crop rotation. Consequently the overall impacts of pesticide use in the timber production cycle are minimal.
For the agriculture and forestry sectors as a whole, control of weeds is often the main priority with herbicides continuing to be the most cost-effective technology. IPM techniques are making significant contributions to reductions in use of insecticides in most areas of agriculture. However fungal diseases continue to provide many challenges for more sustainable plant protection in horticultural and cropping sectors. The rapid increases in organic production in all agricultural sectors will have an effect on pesticide use statistics in the future.
The authors recommend MAF should develop new policies on pesticide use as part of strategies to encourage sustainable agriculture and forestry.
The report will be released at a workshop, "Environmental Aspects of Pesticide Use" to be held at the Ruakura Research Centre in Hamilton 15-16 November. It will available on MAF's Website: http://www.maf.govt.nz, or in hard copy, either from the authors, or from MAF's Information Bureau, Box 2526 Wellington.
Media inquiries to:
Dave Lunn, Acting Registrar Pesticides Board, (04) 460 8735
Ian Cairns, Senior Policy Analyst, Sustainable Resource Use Policy Group, MAF Wellington (04) 498 9862
Glossary of Acronyms
Agcarm: The Wellington-based organisation representing the major distributors of pesticides in New Zealand
FAO: Food and Agricultural Organisation – A body of the United Nations
IPM: Integrated Pest Management; a plant protection strategy involving less use of synthetic insecticides and fungicides and greater use of biological controls.
IFP: Integrated Fruit Production; a system of continuous improvement based on IPM and introduced to the apple industry over the past 4 years