Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pesticide Reductions Associated with Pear, Almond, and Winegrape
Partnerships
Four commodities evince commodity-wide progress in pesticide reduc-
tion, as documented by the PUR, attributable in part to agroecological
partnership activities: pears, almonds, winegrapes, and stone fruit. I will
discuss the first three because they form the primary case studies for my
study.
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The first two show remarkable declines in organophosphate use.
Data also suggest that winegrape growers are using agroecological tech-
niques in several components of their farming systems as a strategy for
reducing several FQPA priority materials.
The California almond industry has documented the greatest volume
reduction of organophosphate use, as illustrated in figure 3.5. Some of
this reduction is attributed to growers switching to pyrethroids, which
are less hazardous to mammals and somewhat less disruptive of benefi-
cial insects, but are acutely toxic to aquatic organisms. Thus, even
though the almond industry has reduced its use of organophosphates and
their associated environmental hazards, some new environmental risks
are associated with pyrethroids. The size of this voluntary reduction has
generated more research into the almond industry's PUR records than
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Dormant use
In season use
Total pounds
500
400
300
200
100
0
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Figure 3.5
Pounds of organophosphates used on California almonds, 1991-2000. Source of
data: Elliott et al. 2004.
