Make Cotton Sustainable

RESEARCH  / INTERNATIONAL COTTON ADVISORY COMMITTEE

ICAC Study Finds Pesticide Usage Down But Far From Sustainable

A Social, Environmental and Economic Performance (SEEP) of Cotton Production Study on "Pesticide use in Cotton in Australia, Brazil, India, Turkey and USA" says that while pesticide use has dropped from peak usage, a series of actions are required for sustainable farming. The SEEP report has made a number of recommendations, including that governments, with the involvement of all concerned stakeholders in the cotton sector, make a strong effort to promote best management practices in plant protection and to reduce reliance on pesticides and subsequent risks to the environment and human health.

According to SEEP, Integrated pest management (IPM) should be the major instrument to achieve and sustain long-term reductions in pesticide use in the cotton industry. The experience of countries that have already enacted effective IPM programmes should be considered by countries that are still devising strategies to reduce pesticide use.

SEEP is the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) Expert Panel on the Social Environmental and
Economic Performance of Cotton Production. The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) is an association of governments of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries which acts as the international commodity body for cotton and cotton textiles.

The Expert Panel was formed as a result of deliberations during the 65th Plenary Meeting of ICAC in Goiania, Brazil, in September 2006 to provide objective, science-based  information on the negative and positive social, environmental and economic aspects of global cotton production. It comprises thirteen members who represent a broad cross section of countries, relevant knowledge, expertise and interest, not only from the traditional cotton industry, but also from universities and government agencies. SEEP terms of reference include the formulation of recommendations for further action as appropriate to improve sustainability in the performance of the cotton industry.

Mr Alan Williams, Chair of the Expert Panel on Social, Environmental and Economic Performance (SEEP) of Cotton Production (SEEP) presented the report during the International Cotton Advisory Committee's (ICAC) General Session at their September 20-25 meeting in Lubbock, Texas. SEEP commissioned Alterra, a research group from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, to conduct the analysis of pesticide use in the selected countries. SEEP has also prepared an interpretive summary of the study and four separate reports on the factors influencing the use of pesticides in cotton in Australia, Brazil, India and the U.S.A.

According to the report, in most of the countries, the use of extremely and highly hazardous chemicals was lower in 2006 than in previous years. However, in 2006 WHO Hazard Class I active ingredients were still being used on cotton at the rate of 0.89, 0.35 and 0.21 kg a.i./ ha, respectively, in Brazil, the USA and India. In Australia and Turkey, the use was significantly lower (0.07 kg a.i./ha).

A small number of substances (listed in Table 10 of the Study and reported below) contributed to more than
50% of the human health hazards caused by overall pesticide use on cotton and more than 50% of the overall
ETL. Four substances alone, namely endosulfan, diafenthiuron lambda-cyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos, are
responsible for around 60% of the hazard posed to fish. Active ingredients causing 50% of the hazard to human health according to WHO classification, and to the environment according to the ETL, in the five studied countries

Further, the study showed that there is no correspondence between variation in pesticide use over time and cotton yields. Australia achieved a decrease in per-hectare average pesticide use over the studied period, while the average cotton yield per hectare increased. Turkey achieved the second highest cotton yield per hectare among the five countries, despite the lowest average amount of pesticides used per hectare of cotton and not having introduced biotech cotton. In Brazil, average yields grew in parallel with an intensification of the use of pesticides.


Analysis of the most recent information available for each country resulted in the following figures for pesticide
use on cotton:
1 kg a.i./ha in Australia (2007)
4.9 kg a.i./ha in Brazil (2006)
0.9 kg a.i./ha in India (2006)
0.6 kg a.i./ha in Turkey (2006)
1.2 kg a.i./ha in the USA (2006)

In Australia, the average amount of pesticides (kg a.i.) applied per hectare steadily declined after a peak
reached in 1999. No clear trends in amounts used were distinguishable in India, Turkey and the USA,


A number of recommendations were made by the Study including:

i) SEEP recommends that WHO Hazard Class I pesticides be eliminated in countries where adequate
provisions for their management are not in place (see section 6 of the Study/Alterra Report for details
on “adequate provision”). In many developing countries, regulatory control over the use of pesticides to reduce health and environmental risks to acceptable levels is still incomplete or not sufficiently enforced due to the lack of technical expertise and resources. In these  countries, the use of pesticides that fall in WHO Hazard Class I poses a direct and a real risk to people handling such substances. Countries are encouraged to use the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides (refer to section 6) to enhance their capacity to reduce risks related to pesticide use.

ii) SEEP recommends that cotton-producing countries where the use of pesticide is higher than 1 kg of a.i. per ha should analyse the causes of such use and address these causes. Four of the five countries studied have been able to reduce their average pesticide use per hectare to around or below 1 kg of a.i, regardless of the type of farming systems prevalent and the pest load occurring (Figure 3 in the Study).

iii) SEEP recommends that the use of active ingredients that account for the highest contribution to the

environmental toxicity load (listed under section 2.2 of this Summary) should be minimized to reduce the environmental hazards to aquatic organisms and bees.

iv) SEEP recommends that pesticides known to pose possible risk of harm to the unborn child or to breast-fed children should be eliminated from the cotton production system. Active ingredients falling
into this category were used at an almost negligible rate in the five countries studied, and elimination
of these products from cotton cultivation would seem attainable.

v) SEEP recommends that governments, with the involvement of all concerned stakeholders in the cotton sector, make a strong effort to promote best management practices in plant protection and to reduce reliance on pesticides and subsequent risks to the environment and human health. Integrated pest management (IPM) should be the major instrument to achieve and sustain long-term reductions in pesticide use in the cotton industry. The experience of countries that have already enacted effective IPM programmes should be considered by countries that are still devising strategies to reduce pesticide use.

vi) SEEP recommends that governments consider both environmental and health risks while formulating
clear policy statements relative to pesticide risk reduction. This requires close collaboration with the responsible authorities.

vii) SEEP recommends that governments promote the collection of reliable crop-specific data related to
pesticide use. Accurate data are indispensable for the follow-up of risk assessment studies, although schemes of data collection might vary according to country conditions.

viii) SEEP recommends that follow-up risk assessment studies be conducted. The Study (Alterra Report)
provided important insights into the social and environmental sustainability of cotton cultivation. It is important to note that the evaluation of hazards alone does not allow drawing definitive conclusions on the actual risks posed to the environment and human health by the use of pesticides in a specific context.


Read the Summary Report: An Interpretative Summary of the Study on: Pesticide use in cotton in Australia, Brazil, India, Turkey and the USA

Photo Courtesy: Natural Fibres, New Internationalist Magazine, WWF, New Agriculturist