March 29, 2000 / The Los Angeles Times / MARK ARAX, Times Staff Writer
FRESNO -- In the eternal battle to outduel nature, farmers up and
down California are, according to this story, increasing their use of
carcinogenic and other harmful chemicals to produce the richest agricultural
bounty in the nation.
The first comprehensive study of pesticide use statewide reveals a
widening chemical divide among California fruit, vegetable and grain
growers -- a cause for both worry and optimism, according to a San
Francisco-based watchdog group that conducted the detailed
computer analysis.
The story says that the Pesticide Action Network examined five years of
reports on pesticide use that were filed with the state by farmers and broke
down the trends crop by crop. Overall, more than 50 million pounds
of harsh fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and soil fumigants were
applied to California farm fields in 1998--a 3-million-pound increase
since 1994. At the same time, growers of several crops such as
grapes, peaches and nectarines were leading the way in a steady
movement toward less use of toxic chemicals.
Susan Kegley, a chemist who oversaw the six-month study, which will be
released in May by the watchdog group, was quoted as saying, "When you look
at grapes and tree fruit, there's genuine cause for optimism. But overall,
the use of toxic farm chemicals remains high or has gone up
for many crops, and the state has no plan in place to reverse that
trend."
The story says that State regulators and farm groups don't dispute the
numbers, but caution that trends in pesticide use -- even over a five-year
period -- can be misleading in a state with such varying weather and insect
challenges. Back-to-back wet years in 1997-1998, for example,
skewed the state figures because growers were forced to resort to
larger amounts of harsh fungicides, they say.
The state's own analysis shows that the use of pesticides linked to
cancer grew by 7.5 million pounds from 1994 to 1998, a 32%
increase. Unlike the watchdog group's study, the analysis by the state
Department of Pesticide Regulation does not detail chemical use per
acre and crop.
Despite a growing organic movement and a shift by some big
growers to less toxic methods, the amount of harmful pesticides used
by California growers has, the story says, increased by 5% per acre since
1994,
according to the study by the Pesticide Action Network, a nonprofitgroup
that advocates reducing the use of toxic chemicals in farming.
(posted without permission)
