Speaker
Description
1.Introduction
The extensive use of pesticides currently constitutes a major environmental and public health issue (Inserm, 2013; Berardi Tadié and Bonvarlet, 2019). several indicators have been used to evaluate pesticide pressure: TFI, NODU and QSA. Other generic, simple and flexible indicators are used in this context: IRSA and IRTE (Mghirbi et al., 2015) to assess the potential risk of phytosanitary products and their impacts on human health and non-target organisms. The objective of this study is to analyse plant protection practices according to cropping and production systems (conventional/integrated and organic) to assess and manage the risk associated to diffuse phytosanitary pollution at field level located in the southwest of France.
2.Materials and Methods
This study aims to define a methodological framework for using and enhancing a database of agricultural phytosanitary practices collected between 2009 and 2019 in four French departments (Gironde, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers and Hérault) to assess the impact of these practices in terms of phytosanitary pressure (TFI), health risk (IRSA) and environmental risk (IRTE) calculated by the EToPhy software (Le Grusse et al., 2014).
The impact of crop treatment practices was analysed in two stages: (1) a global correlation analysis between the different indicators and studying the variability of the indicators and sub-indicators for each crop, across all departments, (2) analysing the phytosanitary practices of crops between departments, followed by an interregional comparison of the south and southwest of France. Based on this analysis, a repository of phytosanitary practices was developed to compare the use of pesticides between crops and production systems (conventional/integrated and organic) according to a typology of phytosanitary practices which makes it possible to define 3 levels of crop treatment practices (low input, medium input, high input).
3.Results
The results of the global correlation analysis between the different indicators according to the crops show a medium or even strong correlation between phytosanitary pressure (TFI) and risk (IRSA and IRTE). Overall, the more the TFI increases, the greater the risk to human health and the environment, but at equivalent TFIs, risk levels may vary greatly depending on the products used. These results lead us to the analysis of the variability of crop protection practices and their relationship with climatic factors to justify the choice of the crop treatment practices applied at farm level in the different departments.
The crop repository shows the variability of phytosanitary practices according to the cropping and production system (conventional/integrated, organic) for each crop. The results show that arboriculture consumes the most pesticides, especially apple trees. In addition, organic farming poses a higher risk to the environment than conventional farming due to the excessive use of copper and sulphur. The analysis of crop treatment practice types makes it possible to deal with the most toxic products to human health and the environment by determining the contribution of each product to risk and pressure, and the target that it corresponds to.
4.Discussion
Agri-environmental indicators are used to build tools for the analysis and management of phytosanitary practices. These tools make it possible to study the relationship and the variability between the pressure and the potential risk of pesticides according to crops. They also help de fine priorities for the implementation of other levers to reduce the use of pesticides and improve the health and environmental performance at farm level. This work also shows the importance of developing a repository that takes stock of the difference within phytosanitary practices between crops and production systems at a regional and departmental level.
5.References
-Berardi Tadié B., Bonvarlet C. (2019). Évaluation des pesticides et risques pour les pollinisateurs : procédures obsolètes et conflits d’intérêts. Paris (France) : Pollinis. 78p
-Inserm. (2013). Pesticides. Effets sur la santé. Paris (France) : Expertise collective, Inserm. 1014p.
-Le Grusse P., Mandart E., Bouaziz A. et al. (2014). Gestion de la toxicité en zone Ramsar (TRam) : rapport final. 68 p. Rapport scientifique du Programme Pesticides : Programme Évaluation et réduction des risques liés à l’utilisation des Pesticides. APR Pesticide 2009.
-Mghirbi O., Ellefi K., Le Grusse P. et al. (2015). Assessing plant protection practices using pressure indicator and toxicity risk indicators: analysis of therelationship between these indicators for improved risk management, application in viticulture. ESPR, vol. 22, n. 11, p. 8058-8074.
| Keywords | Pesticide impact; indicators; environmental risk; human health risk; organic farming |
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