Secrets
of the Soviet empire
For the first time, two Russian scientists have
exposed the way that pesticides were used in the old USSR during the 1970s and
80s. Their thorough study of the consequences of pesticide use contributes to
our growing knowledge about the risks associated with these chemicals. In
particular, they document incomplete information in pesticide regulations and
describe the lack of education about pesticides which led to tragic experiences
in the USSR.
In their summary called ‘lessons of pesticide use,’ Lev
A. Fedorov and Alexey V. Yablokov say that when any pesticide is released,
further dangerous chemical contamination of the entire biosphere is inevitable.
All living species – not just the target species – are damaged. And the
widespread use of pesticides is primarily determined by the interests of the
chemical companies which produce them.
At the beginning of the Nineties, hundreds of reports kept in
secret storage at the VNIIGINTOX (former All-Union Institute of Genetic
Toxicology) in Kiev were shown to the authors. These detailed investigations by
some 75 medical and scientific institutions into the health consequences of
widespread pesticide use across the Soviet Union during the Seventies. ‘The
results of this investigation are shocking because of the significant public
health and environmental effects reported,’ says David Pimentel from the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University in the United
States, who wrote the preface. ‘Unfortunately, similar types of assessments
are not available for most nations.’
L.A. Fedorov and A.V. Yablokov, Pesticides: the Chemical Weapon that Kills
Life (the USSR’s Tragic Experience), Pensoft, Sofia-Moscow, 136pp, February
2004, www.pensoft.net
FFS in Indian
rice produce results
This short book is based on four years’ experience of Agriculture Man Ecology
(AME) Foundation working with rice farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states
and describes management options proven to work in the field, following the
Farmer Field School approach. Sowing looks at seed selection, germination
testing, seed treatment, incubation and nursery technology. Field preparation
and maintenance covers ploughing, application of farmyard and green leaf
manures, followed by transplanting techniques and nutrient management. Weed,
pest and disease management is explained at the different growth stages (from
tillering, flowering to grain formation). The emphasis is on conservation of
natural enemies, avoidance of synthetic pesticides and maintaining a healthy
crop with good nutrient and water management. Brown plant hopper populations,
for example, can be reduced significantly by completely draining fields for
three or four days. Control methods for insect pests are described using neem
seed oil, chilli and garlic, release of Trichogramma parasitic wasps and
for diseases the use of biopesticide Psuedomonas fluorescens,
streptomycin antibiotics, cow urine, as well as removal of specific weeds which
harbour pests or disease. Companies supplying these inputs are listed. The
manual is well illustrated and makes an excellent, practical guide for those
working with farmers or students, who wish to avoid the use of agrochemicals.
Daniel Anand Raj, Paddy, Guidelines for ecofriendly cultivation, AME
Foundation, Bangalore, India, 2003, 65pp, amebang@giasbg01.vsnl.net.in
Pesticides and
organic farming
A study recently commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has put
forward a number of suggestions for a different approach to the regulation of
pesticides permitted in organic systems and alternatives to synthetic
pesticides.
The study, carried out by a team of experts from Organic Centre Wales, ADAS
Consulting Ltd, PAN UK and EcoS Consultancy, looked at these issues in
the context of organic farming and growing in Wales and covered:
It concluded that while changes to the regulatory system may
not bring substantial benefits to organic growers in Wales, WAG could make a
significant contribution to developing wider pesticide policy. By helping to
remove some of the barriers to developing and commercialising alternatives to
synthetic pesticides, it could help bring substantial benefits to growers,
organic and conventional alike.
NJ Bradshaw, CJ Stopes, AJ Little, R Hitchings and D Buffin, UK and EU policy
for approval of pesticides suitable for organic systems: Implications for Wales,
Welsh Assembly Government, March 2004, 90pp., online at: http://www.organic.aber.ac.uk/library/pesticideregulation.pdf
Living up to
expectations
When the public row about genetically modified crops began some years ago,
apologists for the technology argued that even though there might not be a
proven need in terms of world agriculture, the possibilities for medicine, the
environment and industry in general were enormous. GM, we were told, would clean
up the environment, improve our health and allow farmers to grow industrial
crops which could be turned into plastics and other materials.
Have these claims been realised? A report from GeneWatch UK
provides part of the answer. For non-food crops, GM cotton and flowers were the
first to be commercialised. There is the possibility of GM herbicide tolerant
grass being planted in the US. As with GM crops, it is the agronomic traits of
herbicide tolerance and insect resistance which are attracting most interest.
‘Whilst there are aspirations to produce designer starches,
oils and feedstocks for plastics, these have not been successful at product
levels that are economically viable,’ says Dr Sue Mayer, director of GeneWatch
UK. ‘The environmental questions raised by some of these developments have
been poorly addressed and the potential harm arising from the use of GM grasses
and trees demands urgent attention at an international level.’ Amongst other
conclusions, the report calls for a review of the various methods of producing
designer oils and starches in plants. ‘In particular, it should consider the
relative merits of GM compared with improving agronomic performance of plants
making the products naturally.’
Dr Sue Mayer, Non-Food GM Crops: New Dawn or False Hope? Part Two: Grasses,
Flowers, Trees, Fibre Crops and Industrial Uses, GeneWatch UK, 48pp, March 2004,
www.genewatch.org
The trouble with
supermarkets
Award-winning food journalist Joanna Blythman has written a comprehensive
account of the real cost of the supermarket revolution to the nation’s farmers
and shoppers. If you ever felt uncomfortable about buying all your food at
supermarkets, this book should make you think hard about the alternatives.
Joanna Blythman used hundreds of sources for the book, but particularly relied
on The Grocer magazine as well as the Competition Commission’s 2000 report on
supermarkets and its 2003 report on the sale of the supermarket Safeway.
The book analyses the way in which supermarkets squeeze their
suppliers until they either conform or face de-listing because they cannot
comply with cosmetic standards designed to keep customers buying. The philosophy
of category management, devised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
introduced to Europe during the Nineties, is explained. ‘Category management
is their rationalisation of the choice of brands available in each category,’
writes Blythman. ‘And (it is) currently the big supermarkets’ tool for
streamlining their supplier base and increasing their margins.’ In the case of
organic farming, category management has meant that the large number of small
growers who supplied supermarkets a few years ago have been reduced to one large
one who may also supply conventional produce and has can keep costs to a
minimum. The result is that small growers will pack up unless they can find
other outlets – and the number of varieties of a particular carrot, lettuce or
whatever is reduced.
Every so often, the five big UK supermarket chains will meet
their European counterparts to decide how to carve up the food trade using
category management principles – pushing the responsibility for cutting costs
and conforming to standards right down the chain to big suppliers. If suppliers
do not meet expectations, supermarkets will abandon them. ‘By 2003, the top 30
grocery retail chains accounted for 33% of global food sales,’ says Blythman.
‘Now the biggest and most ambitious among them are eyeing up the remaining
67%. The ultimate goal of global grocers … is to establish a more or less
captive market in as many countries as possible while simultaneously benefiting
from the huge economies of scale that flow from having suppliers at their beck
and call. That’s the way to enhance the bottom line.’
Joanna Blythman, Shopped: the Shocking Power of British Supermarkets, Fourth
Estate, London, 368pp, 2004, £12.99, www.4thestate.com
IPM in Indonesia
This book examines the history of IPM in Indonesia, and particularly the FAO/Indonesian
IPM training programme introduced in 1989. The programme was initiated in
response to overuse of pesticides and resulting pest outbreaks.
In the first section, the innovative approach taken by the
programme in using ‘Learning Groups’ and ‘Participatory Impact
Analysis’, implicating both farmers and policy makers in the programme is
detailed. Later, emerging policy constraints linked to trade liberalisation are
examined – and reversals of some pesticide bans in later years. In particular,
there are fears that trends to increase ‘corporate farming’ will reduce
access to markets for small farmers and increase poverty and environmental
degradation. There are also market constraints to further enabling IPM – the
book calls for farmers to be able to market products as ‘pesticide free or
low/zero residue’ to facilitate market access. There are several
recommendations that are useful beyond the Indonesian experience, as IPM
programmes are rolled out elsewhere. In particular, on the need for civil
society and human rights to be respected, and for decentralisation in policy
making.
M Fakih, T Rahardjo and M Pimbert, Community Integrated Pest Management in
Indonesia: Institutionalising Participation and People Centred Approaches;
Institutionalising Participation Series; IIED, IDS and READ: 2003, www.iied.org/agri
Women’s
rights and the food chain
This report examines women’s role in global sourcing supply chains in farms
and factories – and the rights and benefits that fail to accrue to them. The
problems identified include: short term contracts, no benefits, low pay, lack of
rights to time off and maternity leave. The report highlights how extended
corporate rights globally have coincided with a loss of workers’ rights.
In many industries such as textiles processing and farm labour, women make up
over 50% of the workforce – in Cambodia, women make up 90% of production
employees. In South Africa, women make up 69% of temporary and seasonal
employees on fruit farms.
Pesticides can cause further problems: in California, members
of the farm workers organisation have higher rates of leukaemia and cancers. In
Chile, neural problems at birth are associated with fruit workers. Other common
ailments associated with pesticides use and exposure are frequently reported.
The report meanwhile highlights how little of the cost of fruit and other food
imports actually goes to the farm (4%) and its workers (5%) and how much (42%
for an apple from South Africa) goes to supermarkets.
Trading away our rights: women working in global supply chains, Oxfam: 2004 www.oxfam.org
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 64, June 2004, page 23]