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Editorial

Environmental Impacts
Bee gone: colony collapse disorder 3
For the past ten years there has been regular press documenting the collapse of bee hives around the world with a variety of theories put forward to explain it. Janine Kievits, a beekeeper and member of a federation of environmental associations, assesses the evidence implicating the insecticides used to treat seeds.

US phase out of methyl bromide lags far behind rest of world 12
Methyl bromide, a highly toxic pesticide and ozone depleting substance, is being phased out globally under the Montreal Protocol. A controversial Protocol decision last year allowed the US to use excessive quantities. They allowed even more in 2008 than in 2007 in six sectors. The US industry and government continue to demand large quantities while many other countries have adopted alternatives and eliminated its use. Nick Mole reports.

Stockpiles

Preventing pesticide waste in Africa 6
The Africa Stockpiles Programme is engaged in removing and destroying obsolete stocks of pesticides from Africa. However, it is also vital to ensure that obsolete and out-of-date pesticides are not allowed to build up in the future. Dr. Abou Thiam of PAN Africa describes the challenges of this ‘prevention’ work.

Integrated pest management
Farmer field schools deliver results in Iran 8
Farmer field schools provide a ground upwards approach to training farmers in integrated pest management. Hossein Heidari, Alfredo Impiglia, Laleh Daraie and Fatemeh Mirzaie describe initiatives in Iran which have successfully reduced pesticide use, increased crop yields and improved the local environment.

Bio-intensive pest management reduces pesticide use in India 16
In Kothapalli village, Andhra Pradesh, insect pests are the prime constraint on crop yields. Complete dependence on chemical control for the past three decades has led to unsatisfactory pest management, followed by diminishing profits. In 2000, bio-intensive pest management technologies were adopted to alleviate the pest problems in major crops like cotton, pigeonpea, chickpea and vegetables. Through improved pest management farmers have increased yields and decreased expenditure on pesticides. GV Ranga Rao, OP Rupela, SP Wani1, SJ Rahman, JS Jyothsna,V. Rameshwar Rao and P Humayun report.

International initiatives
New call for ban on highly toxic pesticides 11
Pesticide poisonings remain commonplace in developing countries despite international initiatives addressing this problem. The agriculture committee of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has now come out strongly in support of a progressive ban on the most hazardous pesticides. Barbara Dinham reports.

Crop factsheet
Apples – conventional, IPM and organic 18
Despite the growth of integrated and organic apple production in Europe most apples are still produced using conventional methods. Pesticides with serious health and environmental hazards are used and the number of sprays per season is high. The result is high inputs costs, health risks and the presence of pesticide residues in apples, often exceeding the Maximum Residue Levels. Pesticide use reduction targets, along with requirement for farmers to follow crop specific integrated production guidelines are needed.

News
Pilot study on public access to farm pesticide spray records 7
DDT use doubles – WHO supports phase out under POPs treaty 15
DDT – the Mexican alternative 15

Book reviews and resources
Managing pesticides in the food chain 22
Say it with flowers 22
The hows, whys and wheres of organic cotton 23