Book reviews - Pesticides News No. 39

All in a label?
Regular headlines about new genetically engineered crops, or toxic chemicals in food, leave many people feeling anxious and confused about what is safe to eat. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has opened our eyes to some of the less palatable aspects of the way in which our food is produced. But the media move on, and last week’s food scare is quickly forgotten. Yet time and time again consumers are left in the dark and unsure about whom to trust.
    What the Label Doesn’t Tell is a book for all those consumers who clearly want to try an make ‘good food choices’. It uncovers the food industry’s tricks of the trade and decodes mystery ingredients. Written by Sue Dibb, co-director of the London-based Food Commission, the book concludes by telling consumers how to campaign and take action in order to maintain the right to safe food.
    Whilst covering the whole gamut of food issues, a considerable chunk of the book focuses on pesticide issues, low input farming and genetically engineered foods.
    The book also concentrates on food labelling, a key issue that will be taken up by the Food Standards Agency. Sue Dibb says it is very unlikely the label will specify which pesticides have been used to produce the food. She says that environmental campaigners want supermarkets to sell and label produce that has been produced without the use of the ozone-depleting fumigant methyl bromide, so that consumers can make environmentally-friendly choices. Because of the uncertainties involved in pesticide residue analysis, it is more than ever important that the consumer knows what pesticides have been applied to their food. However, strong opposition from farmers and supermarkets means pesticide labelling is at present effectively a non-starter.
    The book is a thorough, readable and welcome guide to an area that is often confusing to consumers.

Sue Dibb, What the Label Doesn’t Tell You, Thorsons, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8JB, 1997, 238pp. Order direct from Amazon.co.uk.

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Post Earth Summit 
The Way Forward: Beyond Agenda 21 is an important contribution to the body of knowledge developed since the UN Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Produced by the UNED-UK, which is UN Development Programme’s focal point in the UK, it provides yardsticks and benchmarks for progress and failure since Rio. Calling on a list of eminent experts, the book provides an unparalleled analysis of the agreements that were reached, and the stakeholders who are charged with implementing them. It reviews the progress made at the international, national and grass-roots level, and offers a summary of the major issues that need to be addressed. It is the essential guide to ‘Rio plus five’.

Photo: Felix Dodds (Ed.), The Way Forward—Beyond Agenda 21, Earthscan, Kogan Page, Freepost 1, 120 Pentonville Road, London N1 9BR, Fax. +44 (0)171 837 6348, 1997, 284pp.  Who’s Who in Food Chemistry EuropeWho’s Order direct from Amazon.co.uk.

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The genetics maize
Advances in Insect Control(1) covers the issue of genetic engineering, particularly involving insect-tolerant plants. It is clearly written from an agrochemical industry perspective. However the book does cover the basic background to the subject very thoroughly. It particularly focuses on the environmentally controversial subject of introducing the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene into plants such as maize, allowing it to fend off some insect pests. For example, there is considerable industry interest in developing transgenic maize that expresses a Bt insecticidal protein for control of the European corn borer.
    Contributors Nicholas Duck and Stephen Evola of the Ciba-Geigy Corporation (now Novartis) in the US admit the collective lack of information on this subject: “We are at the beginning of the commercial use of Bt crops and much remains to be learned on how to deploy such crops in a sustainable manner.”
    Genetics, Biotechnology and Breeding of Maize and Sorghum(2), highlights how complex the subject generally is. This technical book indicates the present state of knowledge of genetics, biotechnology and breeding of maize and sorghum. It outlines the latest research from international experts on the testing of transgenic maize, including data on maize genome analysis, molecular biology and genetic engineering.
    This book does not go into the wider policy aspects of any of these scientific disciplines. Advances in Insect Control however does dwell at length on the potential problem of Bt resistance building up in the pests. So far, the diamondback moth is the only insect which has developed resistance to Bt applied in the field. Resistance management strategies are dealt with in the book. Time alone will tell how they progress. Rick Roush of the Department of Crop Protection at the University of Adelaide summarises frankly by saying that a major cause of resistance to chemical insecticides is that too little emphasis has been placed on non-chemical controls—especially when involving integrated pest management programmes.

1. Nadine Carozzi and Michael Koziel, Advances in Insect Control—the role of transgenic plants, Taylor & Francis, Rankine Road, Basingstoke, Hants, RG24 8PR, UK, Tel. +44 (0)1256 813000, Fax. +44 (0)1256 479438, 1997, 301pp. Order direct from Amazon.co.uk.
2. A.S. Tsaftaris (Ed.), Genetics, Biotechnology and Breeding of Maize and Sorghum, Royal Society of Chemistry, Blackhorse Road, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 1HN, UK, Tel. +44 (0)1462 672555, Fax. +44 (0)1462 480947, 1997, 218pp.  Order direct from Amazon.co.uk.

Scottish water quality
During 1996 the Scottish regional council carried out 16,406 tests for 108 individual pesticides. Figures showing actual occurrence of pesticides are not given. But there were five readings above the European Union limit of 0.1 ug/litre all relating to pollution incidents which caused three supplies briefly to exceed the limit for individual pesticides.

Drinking Water Quality in Scotland 1996, The Scottish Office, Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department, 1997, 63pp.

Latin American perspective
Jaime Garcia’s most recent book, Introducion a los Plaguicidas(1) (Introduction to Pesticides), provides Central America with the most complete and up-to-date source of information on pesticides. In an encyclopaedic production of over 450 pages he covers diverse topics from methods of pesticide application to sources of information on organic agriculture in Costa Rica.
    The first five chapters cover topics found in conventional pesticide texts, including pesticide classification, formulation, application, and management. Chapters six to nine go beyond the conventional presentation, examining the external costs of pesticide use. Chapter ten presents a detailed case study of pesticide use in Costa Rica and chapter eleven proposes solutions to some of the problems associated with pesticide use. Finally, over 100 pages of annexes present up-to-date information and documents covering pesticide legislation, chronic effects of pesticides, the FAO Code of Conduct, and sources of information on alternatives to pesticides.
    According to Allan Hruska of Zamorano University in Honduras: “Dr. Garcia’s book is by far the most up-to-date source of information on pesticides and their alternatives available in Central America. Besides the wealth of valuable information that is put at the fingertips of the reader is the equally valuable lists of further contacts and the impressive bibliography. He has brought together hundreds of valuable bibliographic sources, many in the grey literature of conference proceedings and unpublished manuscripts, in many cases making them available to the public for the  first time.”
    This book will be useful to students, teachers, researchers, extensionists, farmers, and policy makers throughout the region. 
    Another book from the region, Plaguicidas en América Latina(2) (Pesticides in Latin America), presents detailed information on pesticide use and the prospects for policy reform. Published by Pesticide Action Network Latin America, the book includes wide-ranging country profiles on conditions of use in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador,  Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.

1. Jamie Garica, Introducion a los Plaguicidas (in Spanish), EUNED, Apratado Postal 12356, 1000-San Jos, Costa Rica, Fax +506 273 36 23, 1997, 476pp.
2. Luis Gomero, and Erika Rosenthal, Plaguicidas en América Latina, (in Spanish) RAAA/RAP-AL, Mariscal Miller 2622, Lince, Apartado Postal 11-0581, Lima, Peru, Tel, +51 1 440 4359, Fax, +51 1421 0826, rapalpe@mail.cosapidata.com.pe

OPs affect lower food chain
Six years of field experiments in the UK have shown that a lower-input use of pesticides in arable crops can be more profitable for farmers. However, adopting such a strategy demands new management skills to ensure that appropriate inputs are made and applied at optimum rates.

Reducing Agrochemical Use on the Arable Farm, MAFF, Pesticides Safety Directorate, Mallard House, 3 Peasholme Green, York, YO1 2PX, Tel. +44 (0)1904 640 500, 1998, 15pp.

Forum annual report
The UK Pesticide Forum has published its first annual report for the period May 1996 to October 1997. The Forum was set up in February 1996 to bring together a wide range of agricultural and environmental and other interest groups to provide advice to government about promoting and encouraging responsible pesticide use. The Forum hopes to foster collaboration and communication between farmers, growers, advisers, retailers, consumers and environmental groups to encourage the ‘minimisation of pesticide use’.

Annual Report, Pesticide Forum, MAFF Publications, Admail 6000, London SW1A 2XX, 1998, 41pp.

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Guide to UK pesticides 
The updated annual UK Pesticides Guide 1998 is now available. The ‘Green Book’ as it is often known (because of its colour, not its environmental credentials) now contains over 1,400 product profiles of pesticides available for use in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and industrial weed control. There are 16 new active ingredients and 170 products included for the first time.
    The book contains details of pesticide products which are actively marketed in the UK. For each product the complete list of approved uses is given, including off-label approvals. It also has a crop/pest index that allows quick reference to products that are approved to control a particular pest problem, in a specific crop.
    The publishers have extensively revised the section on adjuvants, that now includes 120 entries. Historically little information is available in the public domain on these inert ingredients (see also page 11).

UK Pesticide Guide, BCPC, Publication Sales, Bear Farm, Binfield, Bracknell, Berks, RG42 5QE, UK, Tel +44 (0)118 934 2727, Fax +44 (0)118 934, 1998, 705pp.  Order the latest edition (600 pages, 31 January, 2002) direct from Amazon.co.uk.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 39, March 1998, pages 22-23 ]