Abstract
The seven billion global population is projected to grow by 70 million per annum, increasing by 30 % to 9.2 billion in 2050. This increased population density is projected to increase demand for food production by 70 % notably due to changes in dietary habits in developing countries towards high quality food, e.g. greater consumption of meat and milk products, and to the increasing use of grains for livestock feed. The availability of additional agricultural land is limited. Furthermore, more agricultural land will be used to produce bio-based commodities such as bioenergy or fibre instead of food and feed. Thus, we need to grow food on even less land, with less water, using less energy, fertiliser and pesticide than we use today. Given these limitations, sustainable production at elevated levels is urgently needed. The reduction of current yield losses caused by pests are major challenges to agricultural production. This review presents (1) worldwide crop losses due to pests, (2) estimates of pesticide-related productivity, and costs and benefits of pesticide use, (3) approaches to reduce yield losses by chemical, as well as biological and recombinant methods of pest control, and (4) the challenges of the crop protection industry. However, as long as there is a demand for pesticide-based solutions to pest control problems and food security concerns, the externality problems associated with the human and environmental health effects of pesticides needs also to be addressed.
This chapter is an abridged version of the article Pesticide productivity and food security. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development: Volume 33, Issue 1 (2013), Page 243–255. DOI 10.1007/s13593-012-0105-x. Springer (Popp et al. 2013).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agrios GN (1988) Plant pathology, 3rd edn. Academic, San Diego, 803 p
Ball VE et al (1997) Agricultural productivity revisited. Am J Agric Econ 79:1045–1063
Bennett B et al (2010) We know where the shoe pinches: a case study-based analysis of the social benefits of pesticides. Outlook Agric 39:79–87, (9) IP Publishing Ltd
Bosch R (1978)) The pesticide conspiracy. University California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles
CABI’s Crop Protection Compendium (2005) Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International (CABI). www.cabi.org/cpc. Accessed 29 Oct 2011
Carrasso-Tauber C, Moffit LJ (1992) Damage control econometrics: functional specification and pesticide productivity. Am J Agric Econ 74:158–162
Chambers RG, Lichtenberg E (1994) Pesticide productivity and pest damage in the United States: an aggregate analysis. In: Willis CE, Zilberman D (eds) The economics of pesticides and food safety: essays in memory of Carolyn Harper. Kluwer Academic Publishing, Boston
Cramer HH (1967) Plant protection and world crop production. Bayer Pflanzenschutz-Nachrichten 20:1–524
FAO (2009) Feeding the world in 2050. World agricultural summit on food security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 16–18 Nov 2009
FAO (2000) Report of the expert consultation on viticulture (Grape production) in Asia and the Pacific. Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
FAO (2011) World livestock 2011 – livestock in food security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
FAO/WHO (2010) Manual on the development and use of FAO and WHO specifications for pesticides. Prepared by the FAO/WHO joint meeting on pesticide specifications (JMPS). World Health Organization – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2010
Farm Chemical Internationals (2010) Biological pesticides on the rise. www.farmchemicalsinternational.com/magazine. Accessed 25 Sept 2010
Gianessi LP (2009) The value of insecticides in U.S. crop production. Croplife Foundation, Crop Protection Research Institute (CPRI), Mar 2009
Gianessi LP, Reigner N (2005) The value of fungicides in U.S. crop production. Croplife Foundation, Crop Protection Research Institute (CPRI), Sept 2005
Gianessi LP, Reigner N (2006) The value of herbicides in U.S. crop production. 2005 Update. Croplife Foundation, Crop Protection Research Institute (CPRI), June 2006
Headly JC (1968) Estimating the productivity of agricultural pesticides. Am J Agric Econ 50:13–23
IWMI (2007) Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture. Earthscan and Colombo: International Water Management Institute, London
Knutson RD, Hall CR, Smith EG, Cotner SD, Miller JW (1993) Economic impacts of reduced pesticide use on fruits and vegetables. American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington, DC
Marlatt CL (1904) The annual loss occasioned by destructive insects in the United States. United States Department of Agriculture, Yearbook, pp 461–474
McDougall (2010) Phillips McDougall, AgriService, Industry Overview – 2009 Market, Vineyard Business Centre Saughland Pathhead Midlothian EH37 5XP Copyright 2010
Morstatt H (1929) Die jährlichen Ernteverluste durch Pflanzenkrankheiten und Schädlinge und ihre statistischeErmittlung. Bericht über Landwirtschaft 9:433–477
National Research Council (2000) The future role of pesticides in US agriculture. National Academy Press, Washington, DC
Oerke EC (2005) Crop losses to pests. J Agric Sci 144:31–43. doi:10.1017/S0021859605005708
Oerke EC, Dehne HW (2004) Safeguarding production – losses in major crops and the role of crop protection. Crop Prot 23:275–285
Oerke EC, Dehne HW, Schonbeck F, Weber A (1994) Crop production and crop protection – estimated losses in major food and cash crops. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 808 pp
Official Journal of the European Union (2009) Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides (OJ L309)
Pearce D, Koundouri P (2003) Fertilizer and pesticide taxes for controlling non-point agricultural pollution. Agriculture and Rural Development. The World Bank Group. http://www.worldbank.org/rural. Accessed 4 Nov 2011
Pimentel D (2005) Environmental and economic costs of the application of pesticides primarily in the United States. Environ Dev Sustain 7:229–252
Pimentel D (2009) Pesticides and pest controls. In: Peshin R, Dhawan AK (eds) (2009). Integrated pest management: Innovation-development process, 1:83–87. Springer Science + Business Media B. V. 2009
Pimentel D, Greiner A (1997) Environmental and socio-economic costs of pesticide use, Chapter 4. In: Pimentel D (ed) Techniques for reducing pesticide use: economic and environmental benefits. Wiley, New York
Pimentel D et al (1978) Benefits and costs of pesticide use in US food production. Bioscience 28(772):778–784
Pimentel D et al (1991) Environmental and economic impacts of reducing U.S. agricultural pesticide use. In: Pimentel D, Hanson AA (eds) CRC handbook of pest management in agriculture, vol 1, 2nd edn. CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton
Pimentel D et al (1992) Environmental and economic costs of pesticide use. Bioscience 42:750–760
Popp J (2011) Cost-benefit analysis of crop protection measures. J Consum Prot Food Saf 6(1):105–112. doi:10.1007/s00003-011-0677-4, Springer, May 2011
Popp J et al (2013) Pesticide productivity and food security. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 33(1):243–255. doi:10.1007/s13593-012-0105-x
REBECA (2007) Balancing the benefits and costs of regulating biological plant protection products, WS 6 synthesis, deliverable no 25, Regulation of Biological Control Agents (REBECA)
Settle W, Garba MH (2011) The west African regional integrated production and pest management (IPPM) programme, a case study. UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome
USDA (2010) Commodity costs and returns: U.S. and regional cost and return data. http://www.ers.usda.gov./data/costsandreturns. Accessed 20 Sept 2010
van den Bosch R (1978) The pesticide conspiracy. University California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles
Yudelman M et al (1998) Pest management and food production: looking to the future. Food, Agriculture, and the Environment Discussion Paper 25. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC
Zilberman D et al (1991) The economics of pesticide use and regulation. Science 253:518–522
Acknowledgements
This chapter was made with the support of the Hungarian Development Agency for the research project TECH_09-A3-2009-0227. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Andrew Fieldsend for his accurate comments and his careful English language reviewing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Popp, J., Pető, K., Nagy, J. (2014). Impact of Pesticide Productivity on Food Security. In: Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture Reviews. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00915-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00915-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-00914-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-00915-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)