Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that low pesticide use rarely decreases productivity and profitability in arable farms, and that pesticide reduction is already accessible to farmers in most production situations.
Abstract: Achieving sustainable crop production while feeding an increasing world population is one of the most ambitious challenges of this century1. Meeting this challenge will necessarily imply a drastic reduction of adverse environmental effects arising from agricultural activities2. The reduction of pesticide use is one of the critical drivers to preserve the environment and human health. Pesticide use could be reduced through the adoption of new production strategies3–5; however, whether substantial reductions of pesticide use are possible without impacting crop productivity and profitability is debatable6–17. Here, we demonstrated that low pesticide use rarely decreases productivity and profitability in arable farms. We analysed the potential conflicts between pesticide use and productivity or profitability with data from 946 non-organic arable commercial farms showing contrasting levels of pesticide use and covering a wide range of production situations in France. We failed to detect any conflict between low pesticide use and both high productivity and high profitability in 77% of the farms. We estimated that total pesticide use could be reduced by 42% without any negative effects on both productivity and profitability in 59% of farms from our national network. This corresponded to an average reduction of 37, 47 and 60% of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use, respectively. The potential for reducing pesticide use appeared higher in farms with currently high pesticide use than in farms with low pesticide use. Our results demonstrate that pesticide reduction is already accessible to farmers in most production situations. This would imply profound changes in market organization and trade balance. Pesticide is a threat to the environment and human health. Whether reducing pesticide would necessarily undermine crop productivity remains elusive. Analyses of data from 946 farms in France show that reducing pesticide rarely decreases productivity.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive review of 73 historical reports of insect declines from across the globe, and systematically assess the underlying drivers of insect extinction, reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world's insect species over the next few decades.
1,754 citations
Cites background from "Reducing pesticide use while preser..."
...There is no danger in reducing synthetic insecticides drastically, as they do not contribute significantly to crop yields, but trigger pest resistance, negatively affect food safety and sometimes lower farm revenue (Bredeson and Lundgren, 2018; Lechenet et al., 2017)....
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TL;DR: The progress of remote sensing with UAVs in drought stress, in weed and pathogen detection, in nutrient status and growth vigor assessment, and in yield prediction is reviewed.
426 citations
University of Essex1, University of Leeds2, Anglia Ruskin University3, University of East Anglia4, Iowa State University5, University of Oxford6, University of Sussex7, University of York8, Newbury College9, University of Nottingham10, Ohio State University11, Kansas State University12, Washington State University13, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research14, Stockholm Resilience Centre15, University of Aberdeen16, International Livestock Research Institute17, Lincoln University (New Zealand)18
TL;DR: In this article, sustainable intensification of agricultural systems offers synergistic opportunities for the co-production of agricultural and natural capital outcomes, but system redesign is essential to deliver optimum outcomes as ecological and economic conditions change.
Abstract: The sustainable intensification of agricultural systems offers synergistic opportunities for the co-production of agricultural and natural capital outcomes. Efficiency and substitution are steps towards sustainable intensification, but system redesign is essential to deliver optimum outcomes as ecological and economic conditions change. We show global progress towards sustainable intensification by farms and hectares, using seven sustainable intensification sub-types: integrated pest management, conservation agriculture, integrated crop and biodiversity, pasture and forage, trees, irrigation management and small or patch systems. From 47 sustainable intensification initiatives at scale (each >104 farms or hectares), we estimate 163 million farms (29% of all worldwide) have crossed a redesign threshold, practising forms of sustainable intensification on 453 Mha of agricultural land (9% of worldwide total). Key challenges include investment to integrate more forms of sustainable intensification in farming systems, creating agricultural knowledge economies and establishing policy measures to scale sustainable intensification further. We conclude that sustainable intensification may be approaching a tipping point where it could be transformative.
370 citations
TL;DR: This review is thus organized to critically assess the significant role of nanotechnology for encapsulation of AIs for pesticides and the future trends of pesticide nanoformulations including nanomaterials as AIs and nanoemulsions of biopesticides are explored.
354 citations
01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a dynamic and flexible approach that accounts for the diversity of farming situations and the complexities of agroecosystems and that can improve the resilience of cropping systems and our capacity to adapt crop protection to local realities.
Abstract: The use of pesticides made it possible to increase yields, simplify cropping systems, and forego more complicated crop protection strategies. Over-reliance on chemical control, however, is associated with contamination of ecosystems and undesirable health effects. The future of crop production is now also threatened by emergence of pest resistance and declining availability of active substances. There is therefore a need to design cropping systems less dependent on synthetic pesticides. Consequently, the European Union requires the application of eight principles (P) of Integrated Pest Management that fit within sustainable farm management. Here, we propose to farmers, advisors, and researchers a dynamic and flexible approach that accounts for the diversity of farming situations and the complexities of agroecosystems and that can improve the resilience of cropping systems and our capacity to adapt crop protection to local realities. For each principle (P), we suggest that (P1) the design of inherently robust cropping systems using a combination of agronomic levers is key to prevention. (P2) Local availability of monitoring, warning, and forecasting systems is a reality to contend with. (P3) The decision-making process can integrate cropping system factors to develop longer-term strategies. (P4) The combination of non-chemical methods that may be individually less efficient than pesticides can generate valuable synergies. (P5) Development of new biological agents and products and the use of existing databases offer options for the selection of products minimizing impact on health, the environment, and biological regulation of pests. (P6) Reduced pesticide use can be effectively combined with other tactics. (P7) Addressing the root causes of pesticide resistance is the best way to find sustainable crop protection solutions. And (P8) integration of multi-season effects and trade-offs in evaluation criteria will help develop sustainable solutions.
305 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, a different approach to problems of multiple significance testing is presented, which calls for controlling the expected proportion of falsely rejected hypotheses -the false discovery rate, which is equivalent to the FWER when all hypotheses are true but is smaller otherwise.
Abstract: SUMMARY The common approach to the multiplicity problem calls for controlling the familywise error rate (FWER). This approach, though, has faults, and we point out a few. A different approach to problems of multiple significance testing is presented. It calls for controlling the expected proportion of falsely rejected hypotheses -the false discovery rate. This error rate is equivalent to the FWER when all hypotheses are true but is smaller otherwise. Therefore, in problems where the control of the false discovery rate rather than that of the FWER is desired, there is potential for a gain in power. A simple sequential Bonferronitype procedure is proved to control the false discovery rate for independent test statistics, and a simulation study shows that the gain in power is substantial. The use of the new procedure and the appropriateness of the criterion are illustrated with examples.
83,420 citations
TL;DR: A new method for estimation in linear models called the lasso, which minimizes the residual sum of squares subject to the sum of the absolute value of the coefficients being less than a constant, is proposed.
Abstract: SUMMARY We propose a new method for estimation in linear models. The 'lasso' minimizes the residual sum of squares subject to the sum of the absolute value of the coefficients being less than a constant. Because of the nature of this constraint it tends to produce some coefficients that are exactly 0 and hence gives interpretable models. Our simulation studies suggest that the lasso enjoys some of the favourable properties of both subset selection and ridge regression. It produces interpretable models like subset selection and exhibits the stability of ridge regression. There is also an interesting relationship with recent work in adaptive function estimation by Donoho and Johnstone. The lasso idea is quite general and can be applied in a variety of statistical models: extensions to generalized regression models and tree-based models are briefly described.
40,785 citations
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: An introduction to statistical learning provides an accessible overview of the essential toolset for making sense of the vast and complex data sets that have emerged in science, industry, and other sectors in the past twenty years.
Abstract: Statistics An Intduction to Stistical Lerning with Applications in R An Introduction to Statistical Learning provides an accessible overview of the fi eld of statistical learning, an essential toolset for making sense of the vast and complex data sets that have emerged in fi elds ranging from biology to fi nance to marketing to astrophysics in the past twenty years. Th is book presents some of the most important modeling and prediction techniques, along with relevant applications. Topics include linear regression, classifi cation, resampling methods, shrinkage approaches, tree-based methods, support vector machines, clustering, and more. Color graphics and real-world examples are used to illustrate the methods presented. Since the goal of this textbook is to facilitate the use of these statistical learning techniques by practitioners in science, industry, and other fi elds, each chapter contains a tutorial on implementing the analyses and methods presented in R, an extremely popular open source statistical soft ware platform. Two of the authors co-wrote Th e Elements of Statistical Learning (Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman, 2nd edition 2009), a popular reference book for statistics and machine learning researchers. An Introduction to Statistical Learning covers many of the same topics, but at a level accessible to a much broader audience. Th is book is targeted at statisticians and non-statisticians alike who wish to use cutting-edge statistical learning techniques to analyze their data. Th e text assumes only a previous course in linear regression and no knowledge of matrix algebra.
8,207 citations
TL;DR: A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society.
Abstract: A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Agriculturalists are the principal managers of global useable lands and will shape, perhaps irreversibly, the surface of the Earth in the coming decades. New incentives and policies for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem services will be crucial if we are to meet the demands of improving yields without compromising environmental integrity or public health.
6,569 citations
"Reducing pesticide use while preser..." refers background in this paper
...2, distinguishing (1) the group of farms associated with a negative or non-significant TFI effect on both productivity and profitability (77% of the farms are in a non-conflicting situation for pesticide reduction) and (2) the group of farms showing a significantly positive effect of TFI on productivity and/or profitability (23% of the farms are in a conflicting situation for pesticide reduction)....
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TL;DR: It is shown that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing ‘yield gaps’ on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste, which could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.
Abstract: Increasing population and consumption are placing unprecedented demands on agriculture and natural resources. Today, approximately a billion people are chronically malnourished while our agricultural systems are concurrently degrading land, water, biodiversity and climate on a global scale. To meet the world's future food security and sustainability needs, food production must grow substantially while, at the same time, agriculture's environmental footprint must shrink dramatically. Here we analyse solutions to this dilemma, showing that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing 'yield gaps' on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste. Together, these strategies could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.
5,954 citations
"Reducing pesticide use while preser..." refers background in this paper
...2, distinguishing (1) the group of farms associated with a negative or non-significant TFI effect on both productivity and profitability (77% of the farms are in a non-conflicting situation for pesticide reduction) and (2) the group of farms showing a significantly positive effect of TFI on productivity and/or profitability (23% of the farms are in a conflicting situation for pesticide reduction)....
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