Spatiotemporal Distribution of Insecticides on Eu Agricultural Land: An Agri-Environmental Index Analysis (2000–2021)

Abstract

Despite the effort to implement EU environmental strategies to reduce pesticide use, the annual distribution of insecticides on agricultural land remained almost unchanged over the 22 years (2000–2021). It was estimated that about 0.21 kg ha⁻¹ of active substances with insecticidal activity were used annually in the studied EU agricultural land, about 58% lower than their global use. Spatial distribution of the insecticides use showed differences both between countries and the four EU sub-regions. The highest mean value of insecticides use index (InsI: 0.52 kg ha⁻¹) was recorded by Southern EU (S_EU) followed by Western EU (W_EU: 0.28 kg ha⁻¹). Cyprus (1.22 kg ha⁻¹), Netherlands (0.86 kg ha⁻¹) and Italy (0.67 kg ha⁻¹) presented the highest mean values of InsI. To identify the causes of this variability, selected agri-environmental variables were examined. This long-term use of insecticides to control pests and reduce crop losses was higher: (i) in cropland rather than pastureland; (ii) in high-value crops such as fresh vegetables, root crops and permanent crops than in cereal crops; (iii) in smaller farms (< 2 hectare) rather than on larger ones (≥ 100 hectare). To monitor this structural variability, a discriminant model was created. Discrimination between EU sub-regions and Countries based on these variables could contribute to a targeted rather than universal application of agricultural policy across the EU. Future efforts to incorporate these indices, using machine learning methods, could be a useful tool for agricultural and environmental management decisions, to reduce thus, their use in the era of Farm to Fork.