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Home , Pesticide

Use: Environmental Risks and Alternatives

by Jennifer Decker

INTRODUCTION that the only longterm answer to control is through Of the 1.1 billion pounds of pesticide chemi- a highly complex "ecological approach" to farming. Id. cals used nationwide in 1984, seventy-seven percent at 17. or 861 million pounds were used in . The This article surveys problems with pesticide California Public Interest Research Group (CAL- use and a number of "ecological approaches" to PIRG) reports that sixty to eighty percent of pesti- fanning that are currently used or being tested by cides used are to enhance the cosmetic appearance, U.S. farmers. Some of these methods have been and not the life, of the produce. Agriculture Practices around for centuries and are being rediscovered in and the 1990 Farm Bill Hearings Before the Sub- this country; others are being developed through comm. on Conservation and Forestry and Comm. on university and government research programs. Agric., Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Senate, Febru- These programs have a number of common benefits ary 9, 1990 (statement by Mr. Richard Reed, Califor- including their dramatic reduction pesticide usage nia Action Network). Nationally, eleven percent of and reduction of water waste from irrigation. Id. at the used are , twenty-three per- 17. cent are , and sixty-six percent are herbi- cides. Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide Habit, AMICUS THE PROBLEMS: HUMAN HEALTH AND Journal, Fall 1989, Volume 11, Number 4, p. 16. In THE ENVIRONMENT California alone, farmers use over ninety-three mil- Pesticide use affects the health of farm work- lion pounds of pesticides and nearly five billion ers and consumers and damages the environment. pounds of fertilizers each year. Agriculture Practices EPA's experts rank pesticides as a more serious and the 1990 Farm Bill Hearings Before the Sub- public health risk than sites. comm. on Conservation and Forestry and Comm. on Johnson, Congress Again Tries Rewriting Pesticide Agric., Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Senate, Febru- Law, San FranciscoExaminer, July 31, 1987. Scien- ary 9, 1990 (statement by Ms. Jennifer Curtis, Re- tists, however, disagree about the degree of health search Associate of Natural Resources Defense danger from any given pesticide. Because EPA's Council). testing of over 600 chemical agents is decades behind Nationally, pesticide use has increased dra- schedule and terribly underfunded, answers will not matically in the latter part of this century, without a come quickly. corresponding reduction in pest damage. Pesticide The potential health problems from pesticide chemical use has increased thirty-three fold since exposure can be divided into two classes: acute 1945 (Hileman, Alternative Agriculture, Chemical effects and chronic effects. Acute effects result from and Engineering News, March 5, 1990, at 29), yet contact with high levels of a chemical over a short loss from has increased twofold, from duration, usually causing immediate signs of con- about seven percent to thirteen percent. Id. See also tamination. These effects include nausea, skin irrita- Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide Habit at 10. According tion, and other minor problems. U.S. Environmental to Dr. Pimentel, a professor of and Protection Agency, Agricultural Chemicals in agricultural sciences at , society Ground Water: Proposed Pesticide Strategy, Office turned to chemicals during the 1940's as an easy of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, December 1987, solution to agricultural pests. He believes society's p. 25. resulting reliance on a chemical solution to every pest Chronic effects from pesticide exposure are problem was misguided, creating costly environ- harder to document because of the long latency mental and health problems. Dr. Pimentel suggests period between exposure and the onset of symp- toms. Many effects are known, however, including Nationally, EPA's Superfund program has cancer, mutations, birth defects, and immunological halted any site investigation where non-point source problems. Scientists agree that there are risks from pesticide contamination is suspected. Contamina- drinking pesticide-laden ground water, but they are tion from legally applied pesticides is so widespread unsure about the exact health effects of low level that any attempt to cleanup the potential Superfund exposure to specific pesticides. Id. Although gaps sites would bankrupt the program's budget. exist in scientific data, there is consensus that pesti- Currently in California, approximately fifty-seven cide use is an endemic problem that threatens our different pesticides have been detected in groundwa- health. Currently, an average of three California farm ter, one-half of these being attributed to legal pesti- workers report pesticide each day, and cide application and one-half to point sources or officials estimate that at least eleven additional cases unknown causes. The result is that many Califor- of poisoning go unreported. Agriculture Practices nians risk greater pesticide exposure than people and the 1990 Farm Bill Hearings Before the Sub- from most other states. For example, nearly 700,000 comm. on Conservation and Forestry and Comm. on Californians may have been exposed to dibromo- Agric., Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Senate, Febru- chloropropane (DBCP) in 1987 from 2500 DBCP- ary 9, 1990 (statement by Mr. Richard Reed, Califor- contaminated drinking water ; sixty percent of nia Action Network). The general public is exposed these wells had levels above the State standard. Id. on a daily basis through fruit and con- at 22. California's environmental problems from sumption. We are further exposed through drinking pesticides are not unique. The state monitoring pesticide-contaminated water. programs only confirm the problems. In Long Is- land, New York, 1,000 -contaminated wells PESTICIDES AND GROUND WATER contained levels about the state standard of 7 parts Pesticide monitoring began in the 1970's, and per billion (ppb). Id. at 22. In Florida, 1,200 drinking by 1986 nineteen different pesticides had been de- wells have been closed due to aquifer contamination; tected in ground water in twenty-four states. Today, ten percent of the public and private wells there twenty-six states report ground water contamination. contain ethylene dibromide (EDB). A 1986 Minne- Id. Most contamination comes from non-point sources, sota survey reported pesticide contamination in fifty- such as agricultural applications, rather than from spills two percent of 225 private wells. Id. at 22. or concentrated point sources. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, AgriculturalChemicals in Ground MOVEMENT OF PESTICIDES FROM Water: Proposed Pesticide Strategy, Office of Pesti- THE TOP TO THE GROUNDWATER cides and Toxic Substances, December 1987, at 21-22. Natural factors, as as agricultural practices, Pesticide-contaminated aquifers are particularly troub- affect the potential for pesticides to contaminate ground lesome where they are the primary or sole source of water. These factors include the physical properties of drinking water, such as in smaller communities (like the the chemicals and the soil, and climactic conditions. Island of Oahu); aquifer contamination means import- The chemical properties of the pesticides affect ing water at a great expense. their longevity in the soil and their rate of movement

: Pete McDonnell From "RESOURCES- from the surface soil to the aquifer. For example, water Pesticide persistence in the soil also determines solubility determines a pesticide's propensity to dis- the longterm effect of these chemicals. Persistence is solve in water, making the chemical more able to mi- essentially a chemical's expected lifespan. It is meas- grate through the soil and into an aquifer. Hydrolysis is ured as the time required for one-half of the pesticide's the rate of degradation of a pesticide in water; if the residue to degrade to a non-detectable level. Persistence pesticide leaches below top layers of soil, beyond bio- is an inherent characteristic of the chemical itself. logical activity, hydrolysis becomes the only process Dragun, A ChemicalEngineer's Guide to Groundwater available to decompose a pesticide. Dragun, Kuffner, Contaminationat 66. and Schneiter, A Chemical Engineer's Guide to Once pesticides are sprayed onto a field, they Groundwater Contamination, Chemical Engineering, have the potential to migrate deep into the soil and Nov. 26, 1984, p. 6 6 . into the aquifers below. The downward movement of Once the soil and pesticides begin to interact, a pesticide in the soil is driven by competing proc- their combined chemical properties create molecular esses of degradation and . Id. If the chemical reactions, forming new molecular bonds. Chemicals is degraded by biological or chemical processes tend to bind to soil particles in a process known as before it leaches, it never reaches the aquifer. If the , which slows the pesticide migration chemical has high persistence, is not degraded, and processes. Adsorption is most greatly affected by the also does not bind with soil, it is very likely to leach soil type, , and soil organic matter con- into and contaminate the ground water. Id. tent. Id. at 67. Climactic conditions also greatly affect the This propensity for and pesticides to likelihood that pesticides in soils will reach the bond affects the rate of pesticide migration in different groundwater. One of the most important variables is types of soils. For example, clay soils have a high the amount of precipitation in the area. As rain falls surface area which encourages adsorption. Id. The onto the soil, the rain water binds with the chemicals chemical properties of clay allow positively-charged and carries them through the soil particles to the chemicals to easily bind with the clay fraction in the ground water below. Air temperatures compete with soil. The percentage of clay or sand or silt in the soil this process since evaporation reduces the water is called the soil texture. Soil texture affects the available for migration. Id. The depth of the aquifer pesticide's ability to leach, moving slowly in fine or from the surface soils is also key to how quickly an cement-like clay soils, and more quickly and deeper aquifer can become polluted. Agricultural Chemicals in course or light soils. Agricultural Chemicals in in Ground Water: ProposedPesticide Strategy at 35- Ground Water: Proposed Pesticide Strategy, EPA, 37. Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, Decem- ber 1987, p. 22. The larger structure of soils also affects AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AFFECT- their propensity to bind with chemicals or allow chemi- ING PESTICIDE CONTAMINATION cals to readily pass by. Large soil structure is deter- Many agricultural practices affect the level of mined by the way soil particles bind together into larger environmental contamination from pesticide use. units. Dragun, Kuffner, and Schneiter, A Chemical These practices include: Engineer'sGuide to GroundwaterContamination at 66. * Application Rates: The amount of pesti- The most simple soils are made of uniform cides applied correlates directly with the amount of grains. However, soils can also bind themselves into pesticides available for leaching into the soils and plates or clumps or other shapes. The manner in which groundwater. the soil clumps contributes to the propensity for water * Timing of Application: Timing the spraying and dissolved pesticides to migrate through spaces relative to rainfall events, season of the year, and the between the clump. The more pore space between presence or absence of a crop affects the net amount soil groupings the higher the porosity; the higher the of chemicals reaching the soil. Id. at 36. porosity of the soil, the quicker the percolation of * Method of Application: Pesticides are ap- pesticides toward the aquifers. Agricultural Chemi- plied in a number of ways. These include spraying cals in Ground Water: Proposed Pesticide Strategy them directly on the or on bare soil, dissolving at 22. them in irrigation water, or injecting the chemicals beneath the soil surface. Subsurface injection and direct agricultural areas. currently form the largest surface spraying are the methods most likely to contami- and most rapidly growing class of pesticides. Applica- nate groundwater. Id. at 36-37. tions of herbicides now account for nearly ninety per- * Cultivation Practices: Tillage used to de- cent of the acreage of all major crops treated. Agricul- crease can increase a soil's porosity, tural Chemicals in GroundWater: ProposedPesticide which hastens the percolation of soluble pesticides. Strategy at 31. * Irrigation: Irrigated soils are highly perme- able. The amount of irrigation water commonly COSTS OF PESTICIDE USAGE reaching subsurface soil is estimated to be twenty to AND CONTAMINATION forty percent of the applied water. Id. at 39. As this Pesticide use costs a great deal in terms of the water leaches, it carries the soluble pesticides and affects on public health, farm workers' lifespans, their residues with it. damages to the , and costs. Crop * : The common practice of losses, decline in property values, medical costs, and spraying pesticides from aircraft spreads the chemi- law suits are just a few of the other indirect costs cals where they are not needed. Only 0.1 percent of resulting from pesticide use. According to Dr. Pi- the chemicals applied reach their actual target. mentel, a conservative estimate suggests that the Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide Habit at 10. environmental and social costs of pesticide use in the * Affects of Pesticide Use: Pesticides create U.S. amount to about $1 billion annually; the poten- the need for more pesticides. Insecticides breed tial costs are much higher. Mattes, Kicking the -resistant insects and kill bugs' natural Pesticide Habit at 12. enemies. Herbicides and fungicides create resistant Measuring the costs of pesticide usage to and . They also may increase the society is a difficult task. A USDA report by Nielson susceptibility of crops to insects and disease. Id. at 10. and Lee in 1987 estimated the costs of avoiding risks Six crops account for about ninety percent of imposed by pesticides in ground-water contamina- pesticide applications. These are alfalfa, corn, cot- tion. Household well water monitoring costs alone ton, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat. This concentra- were an estimated $1.4 billion. Installing home-water tion of pesticide use on a few major crops means that the treatment units or obtaining alternative drinking application is heavily concentrated in certain major water supplies are viable options, but the costs are high. Agricultural Chemicals in Ground Water: Proposed Pesticide Strategy at 26. Cleanup of all point-source contaminated aquifers is not economically feasible. Cleaning up nonpoint sources resulting from pesticide applica- tion would be even more expensive and may not be technologically feasible for most areas. The Nielson study estimated that hazardous waste site cleanups cost from $1.9 million to $6.1 million. Id. at 26-27. These cleanups involve groundwater monitoring, pumping, and treating. The cost variables include the size of the cleanup area and the volume of groundwa- ter being pumped. Based on current Superfund costs, actual costs are more than ten times Nielson's estimates.

THE DEMAND AND NEED FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES Farmers are asking the federal government to help develop alternatives to pesticide use because of market pressures, the cost of pesticide usage, and con- cern for their health. According to a University of Conservation and Water ProtectionAct. The hearings California study, seventy-seven percent of California highlighted the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) adults are concerned about in general. economic policies that restrict farmers' abilities to util- and forty-eight percent are concerned specifically ize pesticide alternatives and innovative agricultural with pesticides in food. Agriculture Practices and the techniques. 1990 Farm Bill Hearings Before the Subcomm. on The time seems to have come for our weak Conservation and Forestry and Comm. on Agric., national pesticide policies to be overhauled. Agricul- Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Senate, February 9, ture Practices and the 1990 Farm Bill Hearings Be- 1990 (statement by Mr. Richard Reed, California fore the Subcomm. on Conservation and Foresty Action Network, quoting Dr. Christine Bruhn, Uni- and Comm. on Agric., Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. versity of California). Consumers are demanding Senate, February 9, 1990 (statement by Dr. Bill lower pesticide residues in their food products, as Liebhardt, Director, Re- indicated by the strong California organic (meaning search and Education Program, University of Cali- no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides) food market. fornia, Davis). As Senator Fowler stated, "Man Organic sales are increasing yearly, totalling over $1 created the (pesticide) problem, and we ought to be billion in 1988. Fifteen states have recently passed able to find a way to do it better." Id. (quoting Senator laws or adopted regulations defining "organic" for Fowler). However, in finding a way to "do it better," labeling purposes. Hileman, Alternative Agricul- policies must be formulated that do not place all the ture, Chemical and Engineering News, March 5, risks on innovative farmers. 1990, at 38. Reforming pesticide policies must also in- International concerns about pesticide use clude reforming the numerous and complex federal are growing as well. Dr. Pimentel was recently and state programs and authorities which directly or invited to Sweden to advise officials there on a new indirectly address pesticide-related issues in national policy aimed at reducing pesticide use by ground-water. For example, EPA currently admini- fifty percent within the next four years. Denmark will sters five major statutes that address some aspect of follow with a similar national to reduce pesti- pesticide contamination in ground water, including cide use by 1997. Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide Habit the Federal Insecticide, and at 12. Act (FIFRA), (SDWA) , Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource conservation OVERHAUL OF FEDERAL and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Comprehensive PESTICIDE POLICIES Environmental Response, Compensation and Lia- In response to growing concerns over pesti- bility Act (CERCLA). The U.S. Department of Agri- cides, the Senate Subcommittee on Conservation culture, the US geological Survey, and the Depart- and Forestry of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- ment of Interior also play roles. In addition, state tion and Forestry has held hearings on the use of agencies and statutes address pesticide problems alternative agricultural practices and their economic and often conflict with federal goals, policies, and viability. One force driving these hearings is Senator contamination levels. All of these federal and state Wyche Fowler (D-Georgia) and his proposed Farm agencies and acts must be coordinated into a coher- ent means of confronting the damages posed by pes- ticide usage.

MISGUIDED FEDERAL POLICIES Federal tax and support incentives currently encourage or large-scale single crop fields, which are less resistant to adverse conditions than diversified crop systems. Planting corn on corn, year after year, for example, intensifies the insect problem, weeds and diseases. Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide Habit at 10. Existing laws only give price and income support for a few crops such as feed grain, , wheat, , and soybeans. By changing crops to any but these, the farmer loses financial incen- tives and rewards. Hileman, Alternative Agriculture at 36. The federal government's support of monocultures has indirectly encouraged widespread abandonment of , increasing the need and use of insecti- cides. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, in 1945 when farmers universally rotated corn and used no insecticides, crop loss to insects was 3.5 percent; today the loss is twelve percent. Mattes, Kick- ing the Pesticide Habit at 10.

ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES AND MONOCULTURES A. Integrated Pest Management just the short term need to eradicate an insect. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an In practice, farmers are sometimes hesitant to alternative pesticide control system. Eleven years use IPM since the proposed actions mean making ago, IPM became part of our national agricultural changes to their current practices. However, IPM policy. However, since then overall pesticide use has been very successful in many farms where the has increased, and there has been no corresponding program has been fully implemented. For example, reduction in pest damage. The program has not an fifteen years ago, six or seven pesticides were used overwhelming success to date due largely to low on San Joaquin Valley cotton crops. Today, only funding. According to NRDC, federal funding for one is used per year. Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide IPM has remained at only $7.5 million for the past Habit at 15 (quoting Mary Louise Flint, acting Direc- eight years. Id. at 12. tor of IPM education and publications for the Uni- California state funding for IPM research and versity of California). In addition, the New York alternative farming experimentation is nearly $2 mil- 1988 IPM Annual Report showed a continuing lion per year. This state funding includes a competi- decrease nationwide in pesticide use. IPM Potato tive grant program awarding $760,000 to forty differ- growers, for example, used twenty-one percent less ent projects on commercial farms by university re- fungicides and seven percent less insecticides by searchers and county based advisors. Mattes, Kick- better understanding crop life cycles. Agriculture ing the Pesticide Habit at 15. There are fifteen Practicesand the 1990 FarmBill HearingsBefore the different elements of the research programs in five Subcomm. on Conservation and Forestry and basic areas: cultural, environmental, physical, bio- Comm. on Agric., Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Sen- logical, and chemical needs. ate, February 9, 1990 (statement by Ms. Jennifer Cultural control of pests involves soil mix, Curtis, Research Associate of Natural Resources growing methods, pest-resistant crops, and timing Defense Council). In Texas, the use of insecticides and quantity of watering. Environmental control on cotton dropped by eighty-eight percent between requires temperature and humidity regulation. 1966 and 1974; similar results in other states have Physical control includes weeding, disposal of dis- shown a reduction of insecticide use on grain sor- eased or infested , and insect traps. Biological ghum, cotton and peanuts by from forty-one to control education increases awareness of life cycles eighty-one percent. Id. and the encouragement of natural enemies. Chemi- Over forty-two colleges and universities offer cal control allows for only limited use of targeted IPM Extension education programs while a state insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. IPM coordinator reports to the program leader in Using IPM, at each stage of pest and Washington. A 1987 USDA report states that control, decisions are based on the "economic 250,000 clients participated in 150 separate IPM threshold" -- the point at which the cost of potential programs incorporating twenty-seven million acres of crop loss without control out weighs the cost of control. crop land. Mattes, Kicking the PesticideHabit at 16-17. The entire ecosystem is considered in the analysis, not IPM's most significant accomplishment to date has been its effect on farmer's attitudes about their farm and country. Federal funding began in 1988 at $3.9 million its integrated environment. The IPM program's most and in 1989 totals only $4.5 million. Mattes, Kicking the glaring gaps are its lack of research programs and its sole PesticideHabit at 17. Wide-scale research and implem- focus on insects and pathogens without concern for entation are not close and profitability is, as yet, un- weeds. known. NRDC reports on a highly successful experi- B. Pesticide Reduction mental farm using LISA at the Rodale Research Dr. Pimentel just released a study exploring Center in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Wheat and corn the results of cutting pesticide use by fifty percent on were rotated on farm plots with nitrogen fertilizer forty different crops. See Environmental and Eco- coming from plowing down legumes in previous nomic Impact of Reducing U.S. Agricultural Pesti- seasons. After 4 years of low production, corn in the cide Use, to be published in the Handbook on Pest low-input plots yielded sixteen bushels more per Management in Agriculture (CRC Press) this year. acre than corn grown with recommended chemical This effort is based on exhaustive research by semi- fertilizers and pesticides. Yields have equaled or nar students with crop-by-crop information and illus- exceeded those of conventional corn ever since. Id. trations. By reducing pesticide use to half its current at 10. level, concludes Pimentel, farmers would spend about $830 million on pesticides and food costs D. Multiple Cropping would rise a slight 0.5 percent. Mattes, Kicking the Agricultural innovations today often incorpo- Pesticide Habit, at 16-17. Farmers now spend $4.1 rate ancient farming principles such as crop integra- billion per year on pesticides, with the price of the tion. The concept of multiple cropping takes in crop -based chemicals steadily rising. Other rotations, (sometimes with trees and savings by society as a whole would more than make annual crops sharing the same field), overseeding up for the minor food cost increases. Crosson and legumes into cereals, and also double cropping. Pre- Rosenberg, Strategies for Agriculture, Scientific Columbian practices in Central America continue to American, September 1989, Volume 261, Number 3, this day by growing , beans, and squash to- at 135. gether. The maize provides a trellis for the beans; the beans enrich the soil with nitrogen; and the squash C. Low Input Sustainable Agriculture provides ground cover which reduces erosion, soil Another alternative method for farming is compaction, and weed growth. Multiple crop- LISA or Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture. LISA ping can sharply increase crop yields. Crosson and theoretically encompasses every aspect of an agroeco- Rosenberg, Strategies for Agriculture at 133. system, ranging from fertilizer and irrigation use to In the Midwest, farmers have grown corn erosion control and tractor fuel. LISA minimizes human with other low ground-cover plants. In one Nebras- input and emphasizes maintaining the resources of the kan experiment, corn windbreaks were spaced every land. fifteen rows throughout a field of sugar beets. The Pilot projects are underway to test LISA. wind shelter provided by the corn increased the Administered by USDA in conjunction with state agen- sugar yield by eleven percent. The greater sunlight cies and private organizations, the pilot program evalu- penetration and more rapid replenishment of carbon ates low-input experiments in areas such as cover crops, dioxide to the corn's leaves increased the yield of soil balance, and livestock systems, in all regions of the corn by 150 percent from previous years' outputs. Id. Multiple cropping has another -important advantage. In fields where crops are rotated regu- larly, pests, including weeds, insects, and pathogens, cannot adapt themselves to a single set of environ- mental conditions and therefore do not multiply as quickly. Predators in one crop are kept down by preda- tors in the other. Cotton growers in Texas have successfully tried multiple cropping by mixing cotton varieties that •,o -'-o°- " . .- .- - - • . . o ,

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mature early. This changes the environment to one on land. Most of that water is in the form of ice and snow hostile to the most common cotton pests. The farmers or groundwater. Water is a very limited and valuable also encourage predators that consume the common resource that is not adequately conserved. pests, and then they bum the fields after the harvest Averaged on a world-wise basis, only about to destroy larvae. Id. at 133. thirty-seven percent of all irrigation water is taken up by agricultural crops; the rest is never absorbed by E. Biotechnological Innovations the plants and can be considered lost. Much water 's creation of genetically al- can be saved by using trickle or drip irrigation sys- tered plants is another possible way to reduce pesti- tems that send water directly above the individual cide use. A variety of large businesses are involved plant's root system. Crosson and Rosenberg, Strate- in developing this , including Union Car- gies for Agriculture at 90. bide, Eastman Kodak, , and General Trickle systems, along with some others, not . There are plenty of criticisms of biotechnol- only increase efficiency in the use of irrigation water ogy, including the exceptionally high costs associ- but also offer new approaches to prevent saliniza- ated with research and development. Agriculture tion. One new strategy emphasizes keeping and Practicesand the 1990 FarmBill HearingsBefore the pesticides on the land, rather than passing them back Subcomm. on Conservation and Forestry and into the water supply. This is done by cycling waste- Comm. on Agric., Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Sen- water back into the farm's irrigation system and ate, February 9, 1990 (statement by Mr. Richard strategically reapplying it to the fields at times and in Reed, California Action Network). The technology ways that minimize the effects of the . Id. at 92-94. risks the creation of unforeseeable and the Trickle irrigation is particularly helpful in this release of unintended new life forms. Other criti- regard. Much of the damage from salt occurs when cisms include more subtle consequences, such as large concentrations remain after repeated watering locking farmers into new uses for chemical manufac- and irrigation. High concentrations of salt outside the turers' products. It is still not known whether the roots of plants lower the osmotic pressure and make it ultimate use of biotechnology and whether the benefits more difficult for the plant to take water in from the will go to the chemical companies' sales rather than to surrounding soil. In trickle systems, the plant roots are reduce chemical use in the environment. continuously supplied with water, and the salts do not build up enough to make water uptake difficult. Id. F. Water Use Problems and Trickle Irrigation Solutions G. Information Dissemination Only 2.59 percent of the earth's water is located There are other ways to increase farmers' understanding of pesticide alternatives and the risks and CONCLUSION benefits of one system or product over another. The Farmers will generally remain skeptical of New Farm magazine, for example, is written by and for new agricultural practices until large scale economic farmers. Its readership is over 100,000 and growing. success using these techniques becomes a reality. Topics in the magazine include reports on insect-toler- Financial backing and educational support for low crop varieties, nutrient recycling, crop/weed interac- pesticide use experiments on portions of crops are tions, and biological . In addition, the needed. This will encourage information collection magazine includes case studies of the particular suc- and dissemination without risking a farmer's entire cesses or failures of innovative agricultural techniques. investment. Mattes, Kicking the Pesticide Habitat at Pest control advisors (PCA) can also be a valu- 13 (quoting Carol Glenister, IPM Laboratories, able resource by providing crucial information to farm- Inc.). Highly trained field PCAs could help find ers and a support network for new ideas. Chemical answers to specific problems and direct research in salesmen typically play this role; however, they are the right direction. backed by the National Agricultural Chemical Associa- With the increased interest in Washington, tion. For about every 500 farms in NY, there are ten D.C., more bills will be sponsored to fund research. chemical agents and only one government funded or The market is shifting and is driving this change in "extension" agent. Mattes, Kicking the PesticideHabit agricultural practices. Consumer expectations are at 16. More of these independent PCAs or "plant health rising, and farmers are seeing the health and economic doctors of the future" are needed since they offer advice benefits of shifting their practices away from methods without conflicts of interest. Id. at 16 (quoting Jim employing heavy pesticide use. Traditional farming Tette, NY Extension coordinator at Cornell U.) As more techniques --many long forgotten -- are making a come- is learned about alternative techniques, PCAs can help back as ecologically healthy and economically viable spread information about new agricultural methods and alternatives to chemicals. serve as consultants to the farmers.

UPCOMING LEGISLATION The legislature may help reverse many of REFERENCES these problems with the 1990 Farm Bill and its com- Agriculture Practicesand the 1990 Farm Bill Hearings panion Farm Conservation and Water Act (S. 970) Before the Subcomm. on Conservation and sponsored by Senator Wyche Fowler, Jr. (D-Geor- Forestry and Comm. on Agric., Nutrition and gia), cosponsored by Alan Cranston and Albert Forestry, U.S. Senate, February 9, 1990 (state- Gore (D-Tennessee). The proposals aim to change ments by Dr. Bill Liebhardt, Director, Sustain- many of the inflexible rules that make little sense able Agriculture Research and Education Pro- agronomically or environmentally. Hileman, Alter- gram, University of California, Davis; Mr. native Agriculture, Chemical and Engineering Howard Beeman, Jr., Farmer; Mr. Edward Sills, News, March 5, 1990, at 38. The bills would give farmers more flexibility in deciding which crops to plant without losing federal financial support, such as tax incentives and benefits. The proposals include giving positive incentives to farmers to encourage prac- tices that reduce soil erosion and groundwater contamination. Id. at 38. Most importantly, the bills include increased federal support for low-input and sustainable agricultural research and information dissemination. It includes wetland and groundwater safeguards, recommends national low-input certifi- cation, and provides crop insurance and credit in- centives to farmers making the transition away from pesticides. Farmer; Ms. Jennifer Curtis, Research Associ- Mattes, Kicking the PesticideHabit, AMICUS Journal, ate of Natural Resources Defense Council; Mr. Fall 1989, Volume 11, Number 4, p. 16. Richard Reed, California Action Network; Dr. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Agricultural Brian Baker, Coordinator, Technical Program Chemicals in Ground Water: Proposed Pes- California Certified Organic Farmers; Mr. ticide Strategy, Office of Pesticides and Toxic James P. Knutzon, Senior Vice President, Nutri- Substances, December 1987. Clean, Inc.; Steven R. Beckley, General Man- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Agricultural ager of the California Fertilizer Association) Chemicals in Ground Water: Summary Min- Ainsworth, Pesticide Conference Drafts Food Safety utes fiom the 1987 Pesticide Strategy Work- Guidelines for Key Groups, Chemical and shop, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, EngineeringNews, February 12, 1990, pp. 18- October 1987. 20. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Workshops on Crosson and Rosenberg, Strategies for Agriculture, Assessment andManagementofDrinking Water Scientific American, September 1989, Volume Contamination,Office of Drinking Water, EPA/ 261, Number 3, pp. 128-135. 600/M-86/026, March 1987. Dragun, Kuffner, and Schneiter, A Chemical Engineer's Guide to Groundwater Contami- nation, Chemical Engineering, November 26, 1984, pp. 64-78. Jenny Decker is a first year law student and chairper- Hileman, Alternative Agriculture, Chemical and Engi- son of the UC Davis Society. neering News, March 5, 1990, pp. 26-40. She has worked for the EPA as an Environmental Johnson, Congress Again Tries Rewriting Pesticide Protection Specialist and currently works as a civil Law, San FranciscoExaminer, July 31, 1987. investigatorfor that organization.

Courtney Delaney From "RE:SOURCES"