Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:18:57.994Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Globalization of pesticide technology and meeting the needs of low-input sustainable agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

F. den Hond ,
P. Groenewegen  and
W.T. Vorley
F. den Hond*
Affiliation:
Researcher, Vrije Universiteit, Institute for Environmental Studies, De Boelelaan 1115, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands;
P. Groenewegen
Affiliation:
Researcher, Vrije Universiteit, Department of History, Philosophy and Social Aspects of Science, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands;
W.T. Vorley
Affiliation:
Program leader, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2105 First Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2505, USA.
*
Corresponding author is F. den Hond (f.d_hond@scw.vu.nl).
Get access

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the challenge to technology development in the international pesticide industry. We address these challenges within the context of debates on how to achieve an environmentally- and economically-sustainable world food production system. Forces acting within and upon both pesticide manufacturers and the agrifood system are moving toward globalization and standardization. Main issues on sustainability in agriculture are protecting and improving agricultural resources (e.g., preserving and restoring soil and water quality). This places greater emphasis on diversity, regional self reliance, reduced chemical dependence and greater community involvement. A small but rapidly growing movement in local food systems is evolving in parallel with globalized agribusiness. It offers new opportunities for private sector development of technologies and services. These opportunities could be interesting for companies that are struggling to retain profitability in a stagnant and commodityoriented pesticide market. Our question is whether the pesticide industry is structurally capable of developing innovations in products and services for these new local/regional markets to ensure a more diversified and sustainable agriculture. Our conclusion is probably not, but if the industry were capable of doing so it would first need to acquire a thorough understanding of how organic farming systems function.

Keywords

crop protectionagrichemicalsorganic farming
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 1999 , pp. 50 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Brown, L.R. 1994. Facing food insecurity. In Brown, L.R. (ed.). State of the World 1994. Earthscan, London, p. 177–197.Google Scholar
2.Clough, J.M., and Godfrey, C.R.A.. 1995. Growing hopes. Chemistry in Britain (June):466–469.Google Scholar
3.Crosson, P. 1989. Commentary: What is alternative agriculture? Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 4(1):28–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Dalzell, J.M. (ed.). 1994. Food Industry and the Environment: Practical Issues and Cost Implications. Blackie, London.Google Scholar
5.Ehrenfeld, D. 1993. Beginning Again: People and Nature in the New Millennium. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Gabriel, Y., and Lang, T.. 1995. The Unmanageable Consumer: Contemporary Consumption and its Fragmentation. Sage, London.Google Scholar
7.Hamilton, N.D. 1996. Tending the seeds: The emergence of a new agriculture in the United States. Drake Journal of Agricultural Law 1(1):7–29.Google Scholar
8.Hamlin, C., and Shephard, P.T.. 1993. Deep Disagreement in U.S. Agriculture. Making Sense of Policy Conflict. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
9.Hartnell, G. 1996. The innovation of agrochemicals. Research Policy 25:379–395.Google Scholar
10.den Hond, F. 1996. Gewasbescherming in Nederland sinds 1965: Middelen en werkzame stoffen. Gewasbescherming 27(5/6):125–131.Google Scholar
11.den Hond, F. 1998. Systemic acquired resistance: A case of innovation in crop protection. Pesticide Outlook 9(2):18–23.Google Scholar
12.Howard, A. 1940. An Agricultural Testament. Oxford University Press, London, England.Google Scholar
13.van den Grijp, N.M., and den Hond, F.. 1999. Green supply chain initiatives in the European food and retailing industry (W-99/13). Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
14.Iowa State University. 1996. Local food systems for Iowa. Iowa State University Extension publication Pm-1692, December.Google Scholar
15.Keeney, D.R. 1989. Toward a sustainable agriculture: Need for clarification of concepts and terminology. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 4(1):101–105.Google Scholar
16.Kilian, M., Hain, R., and Berg, D.. 1997. Biological herbicides: Mycoherbicides. In Anke, T. (ed.). Fungal Biotechnology. Chapman & Hall, Weinheim, Germany, p. 51–64.Google Scholar
17.Lang, T. 1996. Consumer views of organic agriculture. Paper presented at the 11th IFOAM Scientific Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 11–15.Google Scholar
18.Lisanksy, S.G. 1989. Biopesticides fall short of market projections. Performance Chemicals (February):14–18.Google Scholar
19.Madden, J.P. 1989. Commentary: What is alternative agriculture? Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 4(1):32–34.Google Scholar
20.Magretta, J. 1997. Growth through global sustainability: An interview with Monsanto's CEO, Robert B. Shapiro. Harvard Business Review 75(1):79–88.Google Scholar
21.Maier, S., Finger, M., and Haldimann, U.. 1997. Transformation processes towards a sustainable nutrition sector in Switzerland. IDHEAP, Chavannes-près-Renens, Switzerland. Paper to the sixth Greening of Industry Network Conference, Santa Barbara, California, November 16–19.Google Scholar
22.Malsam, O., Kilian, M., Hain, R., and Berg, D.. 1997. Fungal insecticides. In Anke, T. (ed.) Fungal Biotechnology. Chapman & Hall, Weinheim, Germany, p. 27–37.Google Scholar
23.Michelsen, J. 1996. Organic farmers and conventional distribution systems: The recent expansion of the organic food market in Denmark. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 11(1):18–24.Google Scholar
24.Mol, A.P.J. 1995. The Refinement of Production: Ecological Modernization Theory and the Chemical Industry. Van Arkel, Utrecht, Netherlands.Google Scholar
25.OTA. 1995. Biologically Based Technologies for Pest Control. Report OTA-ENV-636, United States Congress Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
26.Owen, G., and Harrison, T.. 1995. Why ICI chose to demerge. Harvard Business Review 73(2):133–142.Google Scholar
27.Pavitt, K. 1984. Sectoral patterns of technical change. Research Policy 13:343–373.Google Scholar
28.Perkins, J.H. 1982. Insects, Experts and the Insecticide Crisis. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
29.Powell, K.A. 1995. The production of chemicals by biological control agents. Pesticide Science 44:395–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30.Powell, K.A., and Faull, J.L.. 1997. Commercial approaches to the use of biological control agents. In Whipps, J.M. and Lumsden, R.D. (eds.). Biotechnology of Fungi for Improving Plant Growth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, p. 259–275.Google Scholar
31.Powell, K.A., Faull, J.L., and Renwick, A.. 1997. The commercial and regulatory challenge. In Hornby, D. (ed.) The Commercial and Regulatory Challenge in Biological Control of Soil-Borne Plant Pathogens. C.A.B. International, Wallingford, England, p. 445–463.Google Scholar
32.Quimby, P.C. and Birdsall, J.L.. 1995. Fungal agents for biological control of weeds: Classical and augmentative approaches. In Reuveni, R. (ed.). Novel Approaches to Integrated Pest Management. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. p. 293–308.Google Scholar
33.Rabbinge, R., Bock, G., Goode, J., and Lake, J.V. (eds.). 1998. Precision Agriculture: Spatial and Temporal Variability of Environmental Quality. Ciba Foundation Symposium 210. John Wiley, Chichester, England.Google Scholar
34.Röling, N. 1993. Agricultural knowledge and environmental regulation in the Netherlands: A case study of the Crop Protection Plan. Sociologia Ruralis 33(2):261–280.Google Scholar
35.Stetter, J. 1993. Trends in the future development of pest and weed control: An industrial viewpoint. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 17:346–370.Google Scholar
36.Strebel, P. 1992. Breakpoints: How Managers Exploit Radical Business Change. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
37.Vos, J. 1992. A case history: Hundred years of potato production in Europe with special reference to the Netherlands. American Potato Journal 69:731–751.Google Scholar
38.Voss, G. 1995. Crop protection markets and technologies towards 2000: Opportunities and constraints. Gewasbescherming 26(5/6):177–178.Google Scholar
39.Wackernagel, M., and Rees, W.E.. 1996. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, Canada.Google Scholar
40.Zechendorf, B. 1995. Biopesticides as integrated pest management strategy in agriculture. In Reuveni, R. (ed.). Novel Approaches to Integrated Pest Management, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. p. 231–259.Google Scholar