Elsevier

Food Research International

Volume 68, February 2015, Pages 7-15
Food Research International

Review
Literature review: Impact of climate change on pesticide use

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2014.09.030Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Climate change influences pesticide use directly and indirectly.

  • Legislation, economy, technology, crops, pests and pesticides themselves are influenced.

  • In the future, more frequent pesticide applications are expected.

  • A shift to other management systems and a different pesticide scope is expected.

  • Complex interactions and climate variability will decide on the risks to agriculture.

Abstract

Agricultural yields strongly depend on crop protection measures. The main purpose of pesticide use is to increase food security, with a secondary goal being increased standard of living. In view of a changing climate, not only crop yields but also pesticide use is expected to be affected. Therefore, an analysis of the detailed effect of changing climatic variables on pesticide use is conducted. Not only effects on cultivated crops, occurring pests and pesticide efficiency are considered but also implications for technological development, regulations and the economic situation are included as all of these aspects can influence pesticide use. The objective of this review is to gain insights into the specific effect of climate change on the consumer exposure caused by pesticide residues on crops. In terms of climate change, temperature increase and changes in precipitation patterns are the main pest and pathogen infection determinants. An increased pesticide use is expected in form of higher amounts, doses, frequencies and different varieties or types of products applied. Climate change will reduce environmental concentrations of pesticides due to a combination of increased volatilization and accelerated degradation, both strongly affected by a high moisture content, elevated temperatures and direct exposure to sunlight. Pesticide dissipation seems also to be benefitted by higher amounts of precipitation. To overcome this, pesticide use might be changed. An adapted pesticide use will finally impact consumer exposure at the end of the food chain.

Introduction

Climate change is defined as a change in the statistical properties of the climate system, when considered over long periods of time, regardless of cause (ENSAA, 2011, IPCC, 2001). There is concordance amongst scientists that climate change encompasses atmospheric carbon dioxide variations, altered worldwide temperatures and precipitation variation, all directly or indirectly influencing sea levels and salinity, alterations in arable land, crop yields, changes in soil quality, nitrogen deposition and plant diversity (Fontaine et al., 2009, Harvell et al., 2002, Jackson et al., 2011, Miraglia et al., 2009). The extensively differing impact on nature, human health and even the economy, implies that climate change is both spatially and temporally heterogeneous (EEA, 2012, Fontaine et al., 2009, Harvell et al., 2002).

Temperature, light and water are the key elements that control the growth and development of organisms (Harvell et al., 2002, Rosenzweig et al., 2001). Consequently, biodiversity responses that depend on these environmental parameters, can be expected (Lepetz, Massot, Schmeller, & Clobert, 2009). For example, altered precipitation patterns and cultivation practices can create a thriving environment for insect and pathogen attacks (Roos, Hopkins, Kvarnheden, & Dixelius, 2011), or corresponding advances in phenology (Fontaine et al., 2009). Moreover, the increasing climate variability (Wang, Zwiers, Swail, & Feng, 2009) can induce alterations in interspecific relationships between organisms, such as competition or predation (Lepetz et al., 2009), possibly resulting in a decrease in food supplies and an increase in microbial and toxic contaminants in food (Hall, D Souza, & Kirk, 2002).

For several decades, pesticides have been widely used to prevent, mitigate or destroy pests and improve commodities' yield and quality. Their mode of action provides a competitive advantage for agricultural crops, in comparison with weeds and protects the crops from the damaging influences of pests and diseases. Despite the potential toxicity for beneficial organisms and even human health, their use is a necessity to retain the current production yields and high quality life standards. Pesticide efficiency and use can be influenced in many ways and not in the least by environmental conditions. Given the general acceptance of major climate change effects, it is obvious that an effect on pesticide use can also be expected. The direction of this effect is, however, uncertain and has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Research for the effects of climate change, is generally not limited to pesticides and consequently, not very detailed, in a way that only limited influencing factors or effects are described. Climate change has a powerful effect on the environmental fate and behaviour of pesticides by altering fundamental mechanisms of partitioning between the environmental compartments, also affecting pesticide use (Noyes et al., 2009). A lower pesticide residue on crops, due to climate change, results in an increased vulnerability to pests and diseases, meaning that in the future, farmers may have to spray more often during the growing season. A higher pest or disease pressure will also enhance application frequencies and volumes. As a consequence, the detected residue concentrations might double for some products, while others will disappear faster and hence, do not increase the residues on crops. In this review, the current knowledge of possible climate change effects on pesticide use was combined and a detailed effect on pesticide use was distilled. The importance of this effect, lies in the implications of an adapted pesticide use for consumer exposure to pesticide residues at the end of the food supply chain.

In contrast to natural contaminants, produced by micro-organisms or fungi, pesticide residues in food, can be controlled by human actions. Highly toxic crop protection chemicals can, for instance, be replaced by less dangerous or more human and environmental friendly alternatives. In this respect, the food safety issues related to an increased exposure to pesticide residues, as a consequence of climate change, might not occur.

Section snippets

Influencing factors for pesticide use

Given the multivariate nature of climate change and nonlinear thresholds in natural processes, it is difficult to consider all the links between climate change and pesticide use (Harvell et al., 2002). Six aspects that directly impact a farmer's use of pesticides, were selected (Fig. 1). Amongst those six aspects, legislation, the economic situation and technological progress are not directly influenced by climate, while pesticide efficiency, crop characteristics and pest occurrence and

Conclusion

Several elements that can influence pesticide use, have been presented. In the first instance, pesticide producing companies will strive to supply optimal products. (New) pesticide active ingredients will have to be formulated in rain-fast products for agricultural use. For farmers, the season and timing of the pesticide application, seasonal precipitation and temperature in relation to environmental factors, will strongly influence management decisions (Nolan et al., 2008, Reilly et al., 2003).

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