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Editorial

Pesticide residues
Legal contamination of fruit and vegetables 3
Pesticide contamination of fresh produce sold in the European Union has risen over the last six years. Harmonisation of legislation across Europe has in some member states reduced the stringency of national controls such that higher residue levels are now permitted. Manfred Krautter of Greenpeace Germany reports.

Austrian NGO's supermarket pesticide reduction campaign 5

Dutch supermarket residue campaign  6
Using print and online media to inform consumers about residue issues, Dutch environmental groups are successfully campaigning for supermarkets to reduce residue levels tolerated in fresh fruit and vegetables. Hans Muilerman reports on their strategy and progress.

Market analysis

Growing sales of generic pesticides - profiting from the past 8
With few new pesticide active ingredients coming to market, sales of older pesticides are dominating global agriculture. When patents on these older pesticides expire generic producers can start manufacturing. The original research-based companies seek to maintain control while generic producers try to capture a share of the market. Fierce competition is likely to bring about significant changes over the next five years. A new report from Agrow provides insight into the battle-ground.

Developing country initiative
Sustaining Kenyan smallholders in fresh produce markets 10
Faced with increasingly tough European Union pesticide compliance and retail quality standards, many actors in the export industry, especially the supermarket chains, predicted that Kenyan smallholders would be unable to continue participation in export markets. Brigitte Nyambo and Ruth Nyagah report on initiatives which show that, with the right support, this need not be the case.

European standards affect African growers 14
European standards imposed on imported produce are having unprecedented impacts on growers in Africa. While they are encouraging development of better practice they place a disproportionately heavy financial burden on small-scale growers. Andy Graffham reports on preliminary findings from research in Zambia.

Food and fairness
Challenges for safer smallholder horticulture in Senegal 12
PAN Africa works to raise awareness of hazardous pesticide practice and train farmers in alternatives. The horticulture export sector now emphasises food safety and quality yet there are few incentives in local markets to reward safe and sustainable production. Julienne Kuiseu discusses the issues.

Organic cotton
Organic cotton - a new era begins 15
A PAN UK survey has found over 400 retailers selling organic cotton products in the UK. Marketing and consumer guides will be launched shortly on a new PAN UK organic cotton website. For the first time, the organic cotton produced by our partner in Benin is being sold in Europe. Damien Sanfilippo reports on developments.

Health effects
Chilean farmworker poisonings 16
Pesticide poisonings have marred the image of Chile’s flourishing agroexport sector in the past [see PN 37 p8]. Despite recent efforts of global supply chains to guarantee food safety for consumers, worker health and safety remains a low priority for agribusiness and the government. Maria Elena Rozas reports on two mass poisoning incidents which have re-fuelled the debate.

Lives corrupted by agrochemicals 17
Rural flower growing communities in Mexico experience abnormally high rates of congenital abnormalities, spontaneous abortions, and stillbirths. While official explanations point to the close blood relationships and a lack of folic acid in the diet, some clinicians and researchers are concerned about the liberal use of highly toxic pesticides by small-scale flower growers. Neus Rafols investigates.

Alternatives
Organics outperform conventional in long running trial 18
Since 1981 the Rodale Institute in the US has been conducting a side-by-side comparison of organic versus conventional grain-based farming systems, the longest such study ever conducted. Their results indicate that organic systems compare favourably in terms of yields and economics with conventional systems while using less energy, less water and no pesticides. Here David Pimentel reports on the first 22 years of this trial.

Putting the green back in golf 20
With loss of pesticide active ingredients from the European market and increased awareness of pesticide impacts golf courses are increasingly looking to reduce their pesticide use. Ruth Mann from the Sports Turf Research Institute examines optimal design and management of golf putting greens to reduce disease incidence and fungicide applications.

No-spray zones
No-spray zones, the controversy 22
The concept of no-spray zones separating sprayed fields from residential areas to protect human health has been highly contentious in the UK. Introduction of such zones has recently been recommended by independent science advisors to the UK government but dismissed by its pesticide advisors. Clare Butler Ellis examines the issues.

Book reviews 23
Practical manual for positive living
The UK Pesticide Guide 2006 - essential reading