"In a recent survey of 820 Boro (winter rice), potato, bean, eggplant, cabbage, sugarcane, and mango farmers in Bangladesh, over 47 percent of farmers were found to be overusing pesticides. With only 4 percent of farmers formally trained in pesticide use or handling, and over 87 percent openly admitting to using little or no protective measures while applying pesticides, overuse is potentially a threatening problem to farmer health as well as the environment. To model pesticide overuse, the authors used a 3-equation, trivariate probit framework, with health effects and misperception of pesticide risk as endogenous dummy variables. Health effects (the first equation) were found to be strictly a function of the amount of pesticides used in production, while misperception of pesticide risk (the second equation) was determined by health impairments from pesticides and the toxicity of chemicals used. Pesticide overuse (the third equation) was significantly determined by variation in income, farm ownership, the toxicity of chemicals used, crop composition, and geographical location. The results highlight the necessity for policymakers to design effective and targeted outreach programs that deal specifically with pesticide risk, safe handling, and averting behavior. Ideally, the approach would be participatory in nature to address key informational gaps, as well as increasing a farmers' awareness retention. The results also point to specific crops and locations experiencing a higher prevalence of overuse-bean and eggplant in general-and overall production in the districts of Chapainawabganj, Chittagong, Comilla, Jessore, Narshingdi, Rajshahi, and Rangpur. Focusing efforts in these crop and geographical areas may have the most measurable effects on pesticide overuse. "--World Bank web site.

"In a recent survey of 820 Boro (winter rice), potato, bean, eggplant, cabbage, sugarcane, and mango farmers in Bangladesh, over 47 percent of farmers were found to be overusing pesticides. With only 4 percent of farmers formally trained in pesticide use or handling, and over 87 percent openly admitting to using little or no protective measures while applying pesticides, overuse is potentially a threatening problem to farmer health as well as the environment. To model pesticide overuse, the authors used a 3-equation, trivariate probit framework, with health effects and misperception of pesticide risk as endogenous dummy variables. Health effects (the first equation) were found to be strictly a function of the amount of pesticides used in production, while misperception of pesticide risk (the second equation) was determined by health impairments from pesticides and the toxicity of chemicals used. Pesticide overuse (the third equation) was significantly determined by variation in income, farm ownership, the toxicity of chemicals used, crop composition, and geographical location. The results highlight the necessity for policymakers to design effective and targeted outreach programs that deal specifically with pesticide risk, safe handling, and averting behavior. Ideally, the approach would be participatory in nature to address key informational gaps, as well as increasing a farmers' awareness retention. The results also point to specific crops and locations experiencing a higher prevalence of overuse-bean and eggplant in general-and overall production in the districts of Chapainawabganj, Chittagong, Comilla, Jessore, Narshingdi, Rajshahi, and Rangpur. Focusing efforts in these crop and geographical areas may have the most measurable effects on pesticide overuse. "--World Bank web site.

This food policy report presents a typology of the diverse livelihood strategies and development pathways for smallholder farmers in developing countries, and offers policy recommendations to help potentially profitable smallholders meet emerging risks and challenges. Main Findings Smallholder farmers in developing countries play a key role in meeting the future food demands of a growing and increasingly rich and urbanized population. However, smallholders are not a homogeneous group that should be supported at all costs. Whereas some smallholder farmers have the potential to undertake profitable commercial activities in the agricultural sector, others should be supported in exiting agriculture and seeking nonfarm employment opportunities. For smallholder farmers with profit potential, their ability to be successful is hampered by such challenges as climate change, price shocks, limited financing options, and inadequate access to healthy and nutritious food. By overcoming these challenges, smallholders can move from subsistence to commercially oriented agricultural systems, increase their profits, and operate at an efficient scale—thereby helping to do their part in feeding the world’s hungry.

Although chemical pesticides safeguard crops and improve farm productivity, they are increasingly feared for their potentially dangerous residues and their effects on ecosystems. The Future Role of Pesticides explores the role of chemical pesticides in the decade ahead and identifies the most promising opportunities for increasing the benefits and reducing the risks of pesticide use. The committee recommends R&D, program, and policy initiatives for federal agriculture authorities and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. This book presents clear overviews of key factors in chemical pesticide use, including: Advances in genetic engineering not only of pest-resistant crops but also of pests themselves. Problems in pesticide useâ€"concerns about the health of agricultural workers, the ability of pests to develop resistance, issues of public perception, and more. Impending shifts in agricultureâ€"globalization of the economy, biological "invasions" of organisms, rising sensitivity toward cross-border environmental issues, and other trends. With a model and working examples, this book offers guidance on how to assess various pest control strategies available to today's agriculturist.

The understanding that some pesticides are more hazardous than others is well established. Recognition of this is reflected by the World Health Organization (WHO) Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard, which was first published in 1975. The document classifies pesticides in one of five hazard classes according to their acute toxicity. In 2002, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was introduced, which in addition to acute toxicity also provides classification of chemicals according to their chronic health hazards and environmental hazards.

This book contains 20 chapters, which are divided into 5 sections. Section 1 covers different aspects of insecticide resistance of selected economically important plant insect pests, whereas section 2 includes chapters about the importance, development and insecticide resistance management in controlling malaria vectors. Section 3 is dedicated to some general questions in insecticide resistance, while the main topic of section 4 is biochemical approaches of insecticide resistance mechanisms. Section 5 covers ecologically acceptable approaches for overcoming insecticide resistance, such are the use of mycoinsecticides, and understanding the role of some plant chemical compounds, which are important in interactions between plants, their pests and biological control agents.

"The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard was approved by the 28th World Health Assembly in 1975 and has since gained wide acceptance. When it was published in the WHO Chronicle, 29, 397-401 (1975), an annex, which was not part of the Classification, illustrated its use by listing examples of classification of some pesticidal active ingredients and their formulations. Later suggestions were made by Member States and pesticide registration authorities that further guidance should be given on the classification of individual pesticides. Guidelines were first issued in 1978, and have since been revised and reissued every few years. Up until the present revision the original guidelines approved by the World Health Assembly in 1975 have been followed without amendment. In December, 2002 the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UNCETDG/GHS) approved a document called 'The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals' with the intent to provide a globally-harmonized system1 (GHS) to address classification of chemicals, labels, and safety data sheets. The GHS (with subsequent revisions) is now being widely used for the classification and labeling of chemicals worldwide. For this revision of the Classification the WHO Hazard Classes have been aligned in an appropriate way with the GHS Acute Toxicity Hazard Categories for acute oral or dermal toxicity as the starting point for allocating pesticides to a WHO Hazard Class (with adjustments for individual pesticides where required). It is anticipated that few of the more toxic pesticides will change WHO Hazard Class as a result of this change. As has always been the case, the classification of some pesticides has been adjusted to take account of severe hazards to health other than acute toxicity (as described in Part II). The GHS Acute Toxicity Hazard Category for each pesticide is now presented alongside the existing information"--Page 1.