A fruit infected by Fruit Mealybug.
PESTICIDES ARE also environmental pollutants and unless properly managed can become a menace to the environment. Pesticides must be carefully used in conjunction with alternative environmentally-friendly practices.
This has led to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies, the newest approach to pest management. IPM is effective because it requires an understanding of the environmental landscape - pests, time of year at which pests become bothersome, timing of planting to reduce effects of pests. It also involves some biological control and natural remedies with customised farming practices using techniques that give crops a better chance of resisting pests. Synthetic chemicals are also a part of IPM, but the combined approach allows for a reduction in the pesticide volume required.
There are many regulations locally and internationally concerning the types of pesticides allowed, application rate for each pesticide, the crops on which the pesticides can be used, and many other guidelines that will help lessen the environmental impact of these chemicals. There are now internationally accepted allowable levels of pesticide residues that can be left on agricultural produce being exported.
CORRECT USES
These factors point to the need for pesticides in our local agriculture to be used correctly, appropriately and properly monitored for environmental, health and economic reasons.
The Pesticide Control Authority (PCA) in Jamaica forms the regulatory framework for registration, re-registration of pesticides and also implementing bans on selected pesticides. The PCA also collates data on pesticide usage locally. According to its mission statement, the PCA aims to, "...reduce the adverse effects of pesticides on food, the environment and public health by improving pesticide management in Jamaica".
FATE
There has been an increase in the amount of pesticides used locally and regionally. Very little scientific data is available on the environmental fate of these pesticides. There is uncertainty as to how they degrade, the rate at which they degrade, and the factors that cause them to degrade in our unique tropical environment. No appropriate assessment of their health and safety impact has been made. The Pesticide Research Lab (PRL) in the Chemistry Department at the University of the West Indies, under the supervision of Professor Tara Dasgupta, has been carrying out research on the environmental fate of regionally-used pesticides since 1982. The PRL also monitors the level of pesticide residues in foods intended for export and also in soil, water and plant material. The PRL recently signed the MoU with PCA to analyse fresh fruits and vegetable samples imported and locally grown. Research has been conducted on pesticides such as Atrazine, Imazalil, Chlorpyrifos, Endosulfan, Dieldrin and other organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides. Currently work is being done on a number of other pesticides including Profenofos, Isazofos, Methomyl, Glyphosate and Paraquat.
Our findings reveal pesticides in our rivers, soil, sediment and vegetables. Is the Jamaican public at risk? What are the implications of such findings? Whatever they are, the Pesticide Research Laboratory is committed to doing relevant research that will inform all the stakeholders and the region at large as to the fate of pesticides in our environment. It is our hope that our findings will assist the practitioners in implementing a proper monitoring plan and an integrated approach to managing pests.
