Recent research has allowed Irish farmers to reflect on how they implement the various European Union (EU) pesticide-use directives.
The work was carried out by three academics at University College Dublin (UCD) School of Agriculture and Food Science. The scientists involved were: Ed Straw; Edel Kelly; and Dara Stanley.
Their work has confirmed that overall compliance regarding pesticide-use regulations in Ireland is high.
How pesticides are used is very important in determining the risk they pose to both the user, and the environment.
Given they can have toxic properties, if pesticides are misused they could cause serious harm to the user’s health as well as a range of environmental damage.
Despite this, very little research has quantified whether agricultural use of pesticides is compliant with the legally binding obligations and associated guidance surrounding application.
Research study on pesticide use
Courtesy of the UCD survey, use was made of an online, fully anonymous questionnaire to ask Irish farmers about how they use pesticides.
The researchers used a self-reporting methodology, directly asking farmers about their compliance levels.
They had a total of 76 unique valid respondents. The respondents covered the broad range of Irish agriculture. In addition, the team quantified how this relates to national demographics.
Overall compliance regarding pesticide use was high, with the majority of respondents complying the majority of the time.
However, the UCD scientists also found a sizable group reporting low compliance levels for certain topics. Respondents reported the highest levels of non-compliance with the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Almost half of all respondents admitting to not wearing certain required protective equipment on a regular basis.
In contrast, for some areas like application rate, very high compliance was reported.
Moderate levels of non-compliance with bee protective mitigation measures were found.
Some respondents reported practices like not emptying or washing out the spray tank between sprays. This could have serious impacts on pollinators and soil organisms.
Additionally, a minority of respondents admitted to actions which could cause serious water course pollution.
High compliance
As the first survey on a range of pesticide compliance topics within a developed nation, the compliance levels recorded were very high, compared to levels in developing nations.
The UCD results demonstrate that the assumption that all legal obligations and guidance surrounding pesticide use are followed is unfounded.
However, the majority of the respondents taking part in the survey were mostly compliant.
According to Straw, Kelly and Stanley, education or enforcement should be targeted to certain areas where compliance is weakest to minimise harm from pesticide use.
Reducing the non-compliance reported by the UCD team could benefit both farmers and environmental health, while also ensuring that pesticides are used in a manner that risk assessment has deemed safe.