Reducing pesticide use in agriculture without lowering productivity

As part of the DEPHY-Ferme network, a major component of the French government's EcoPhyto plan to reduce and improve plant protection product use, researchers from INRA working with the company Agrosolutions examined the relationship between pesticide use and cropping system performances¹ in terms of productivity and profitability. The results, published in Nature Plants on 27 February 2017, show that pesticide use can be significantly reduced without lowering yields or economic performances at farm level if substantial changes in farming practices are adopted. However, implementing new practices is not necessarily easy and farmers need guidance in doing so. The results were obtained through an analysis of the diversity and productivity of cropping systems within the DEPHY-Ferme network. The data were based on 946 farms growing major conventional crops with differing levels of pesticide use and diverse French farming practices. The INRA researchers studied the relationship between the level of pesticide use, productivity (MJ/ha/year) and profitability (estimated using semi-net margins, -/ha/year). Initial results show pesticide use can be reduced without losses in productivity.