{"id":50372233,"date":"2023-06-27T19:52:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogochino.net\/?p=372233"},"modified":"2023-07-06T19:55:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T16:55:34","slug":"372233-can-south-america-bring-down-chemical-use-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/372233-can-south-america-bring-down-chemical-use-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Can South America bring down chemical use in agriculture?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 19 December last year, at the COP15 summit in Canada, 195 countries reached an agreement<\/a> to work together to reverse the loss of biodiversity. One million of the world\u2019s 8 million known animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, and the summit recognised the importance of tackling factors such as land use and overexploitation, as well as climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One commitment sealed at the summit was to reduce by half, by the end of this decade, the excess nutrients produced when fertilisers are used in greater quantities than crops can absorb, and to at least halve the \u201coverall risk\u201d from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Achieving this would imply a substantive change in the global agricultural and food system, which is characterised by strong imbalances between producer and consumer nations. Much conventional agriculture depends on large monocultures, often involving genetically modified crops engineered by the same countries that produce pesticides. These are particularly harmful to biodiversity, especially when forests and other natural ecosystems are cleared to make way for cropland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/div>
A worker on an agroecological farm in Buenos Aires province holding carrots and beetroots. Agroecological practices can require more than a single crop cycle to see results such as higher yields (Image: Union of Land Workers)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As an alternative, agroecological practices seek to avoid overexploitation of the soil, focus on native varieties rooted in local knowledge, and minimise or eliminate the use of synthetic products in favour of bio-inputs, which allow the control of pests and diseases from microorganisms, fungi, minerals or plant derivatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first year is more difficult; many times the soil is dead because of the use of chemicals,\u201d says \u00cdtalo Choque Baldiviezo, a member of the Union of Land Workers (UTT), an association of more than 20,000 small farmers from Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut from the second year on, when the microorganisms give it life, the products become more robust and with higher yields. An ecosystem appears in your field: fertiliser, flowers and biodiversity increase. You don\u2019t need so much work anymore, just to rotate the crops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unbalanced model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Half of the pesticides used globally are herbicides, which combat weeds, 30% are insecticides and 17% are fungicides. A good portion of them \u201cdeteriorate human health, biodiversity, water and soil\u201d, according to the Pesticide Atlas 2022<\/a>, a report that also points out how major companies such as Bayer, BASF and Syngenta are allowed to export products that are banned in their own territories. In fact, four of the 10 most used pesticides in Brazil cannot legally be marketed in Europe. While 468,000 tonnes of synthetic products were used in Europe in 2020, a reduction of 0.2% compared to 1999, South America used 770,000 tonnes, an increase of 119% over the same period.

Among the most sold pesticide products are: glyphosate, said to be \u201cprobably carcinogenic<\/a>\u201d by the World Health Organization, though this is disputed; paraquat, found to be highly toxic<\/a> in humans; atrazine, a hormone disruptor<\/a>; and neonicotinoids, which are toxic to bees<\/a>. Effects of exposure to these substances include rashes and burning eyes, fatigue, headaches and body aches. As the active ingredients are often spilled on soil, run off into water or are sprayed into the air, they also find their way into food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n