Evaluation of pesticide reduction strategies in cropping systems. A review

Abstract

The unsustainable and excessive use of pesticides in agriculture causes multi-faceted environmental and human health problems worldwide. Numerous strategies have been proposed to reduce pesticide use; however, the knowledge regarding their performance is scattered. To move forward, it is crucial to evaluate pesticide reduction strategies and identify the most efficient ones. The objective of this work is to globally synthesize published literature on pesticide reduction strategies in order to describe their main characteristics and assess their performances across a wide range of indicators. Based on a systematic review of ten papers from the secondary literature involving generalized linear mixed-effect models and text mining techniques, we reviewed 97 primary research papers reporting 135 studies assessing pesticide reduction strategies. Sixteen types of individual strategy were identified, among which the most investigated strategies were site-specific pesticide application, physical/mechanical control, and advanced machinery. Herbicide was the most studied pesticide group regarding pesticide reduction. The most frequent method used to assess pesticide reduction strategies was field experiment (83%). Fifty-one indicators reflecting the impacts of pesticide reduction strategies were grouped into four categories: economic output, pest control efficacy, pesticide related input, and side effects. Pesticide reduction strategies had a higher likelihood to reduce pesticide input and side effects than to improve economic output and pest control efficacy. The primary literature was then allocated to two main topics: topic 1 includes weed management in cereals, and topic 2 concerns insect and disease management in fruits. Studies focusing on topic 2 and studies combining several pesticide reduction strategies had higher probabilities to report positive effects from pesticide reduction strategies than topic 1 and single strategies, respectively. We also found that organic systems produce more positive results than low-input systems, especially regarding side effects.