Can farming be done without the use of synthetic pesticides?

With the global population expected to continue increasing yet the land resources are finite, various interventions have been introduced to increase farm yields to feed the growing population. Among the interventions that have grown popular over the years is the use of synthetic pesticides to control pests and diseases on the farm.

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), synthetic pesticides are man-made substances or mixtures of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling pests or diseases and they can be insecticides if they kill insects, herbicides if they kill weeds or plants, fungicides if they kill fungi, bactericides if they kill bacteria, rodenticides if they kill rodents etcetera.

Several research studies have however highlighted that synthetic pesticides are harmful to the ecosystem, environment as well as the farmers with numerous negative effects such as cancer, Asthma, birth defects, skin and eye irritations, depression, child leukemia, non-target organism death, pollution etcetera being linked to their use.

With these scientifically proven negative effects of synthetic pesticides, how then can farmers manage the pests and diseases which are a menace in their farms?

The solution to this problem through which pests and diseases on farms can be managed while preserving the health of the environment, ecosystems as well as the people practicing farming is the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy which is a component of Agroecology.

IPM is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pests, keeps pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduces or minimizes risks to human health and the environment.

Chemical control which includes synthetic pesticide use is thus the last resort under the IPM strategy. IPM  can be practiced through;

Prevention and Suppression. Prevention is done by adopting cultural or agronomic practices and measures which reduce the chance of occurrence of pests on the farm for example maintaining the soils fertile, use of clean planting materials among others. Suppression on the other hand reduces the impact of pests through breaking of their cycles for example crop rotation breaks cycles of pests which thus suppresses pests.

Constant monitoring of the fields to identify any upcoming incidences of pest or disease attacks such that these can be handled promptly before they become a threat to the potential yields is another practice which should be done.

Use of non-chemical methods. This involves leveraging natural enemies which feed on the target pests. The ecosystem is designed in a way that each organism has its predator in the food chain or food web which implies that even the pests that attack the crops have other insects or organisms that feed on them. It is through this mechanism that the pest populations can be kept in check.

This is however only possible with preservation of biodiversity since these natural enemies survive in environments with a variety of plants which are their habitats.

Use of biopesticides. This is another approach that can be used to manage the pests. Biopesticides are substances made from naturally occurring plants. They are another option that can be leveraged for the management of pests. There are several plants from which biopesticides can be made for example the neem tree, Lantana camara, Gliricidia sepia among others.

The last option under IPM is chemical control which involves use of synthetic pesticides meaning that it should only be employed if all the above approaches fail which is unheard of.

In his speech during the National Annual Agroecology Symposium at Hotel Africana on 24th October 2023, Sir Sunday Bob George the Senior Agricultural Officer for Food Security and Focal Point Person for Organic Agriculture as well as Agroecology at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) mentioned that there is an upcoming Agroecology strategy under review which will soon be out for implementation.

Since IPM is a component of Agroecology, its emphasis will thus be crucial if farmers are to produce food without use of synthetic pesticides.

More research on natural enemies and biopesticides is however still needed as well as its documentation such that it can be disseminated to farmers.

In a nutshell, Farming can surely be done without spraying with synthetic pesticides but there is still a lot to be done by the different stakeholders to have all the gaps bridged to enable a smooth roll out of the alternative way of farming which leverages IPM and which minimizes the use of synthetic pesticides.

Mr Thomas Malunda is an agroecologist, Ag tech start up and Agri-business expert
[email protected]