Research reveals that rice growers in central Luzon in the Philippines use less insecticide than farmers in other major rice-growing regions in Asia. Compared to the situation in many other Asian rice bowls, where the use of insecticides and other chemicals remains high or is even increasing, insecticide use by rice growers in central Luzon has been falling since the late 1980s.
The trend has been confirmed in surveys by both the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and IRRI. The research revealed that insecticide use by farmers in central Luzon, which peaked in the mid-1980s, is now at an historic low, though some farmers still use insecticides as a last resort to prevent serious crop loss. The research also shows that herbicide use peaked in the early 1990s and has slowly declined since then. Farmers continue to use herbicides more often than insecticides.
Particularly encouraging is the survey finding that, despite the steep decline in insecticide use, rice farmers in the region were able to increase their yields over the same period, seeing them rise from an average of 2.75 tons to close to 3.25 tons per hectare by 2002. “This result is testimony to the success and hard work of PhilRice and the other groups in the Philippines, who over many years have been promoting the use of integrated pest management,” commented IRRI Director General Ronald Cantrell.
* The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is sponsored by
both countries and corporations, many of which are the likes of
Monsanto and Syngenta.
source: http://www.irri.org/media/hotline/hlmar2003.asp 15apr03
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