The future of agriculture is the use of integrated pest management, using good agricultural practices such as crop rotation and native predators

Clearly, the long-term future is the use of integrated pest management, using good agricultural practices such as crop rotation and native predators. The use of pesticides or biological alternatives seems unavoidable, to ensure our food security, as long as pest insects exist and we depend on large monocultures, with little natural insect forage. Therefore, a risk/benefit balance will need to be sought according to environmental damage caused and our need for the crop resource/economic gain. In the case of the recreational use of pesticides for gardens and for amenity uses (parks, golf courses and road verges) such risks are harder to justify. A limitation of the risks to pollinators from pesticide use and of compromised food security by lost pollinators or a failure to control pest species, can be achieved by a restriction of all pesticides to uses that are essential to our needs. Moreover, the remaining landscape could then be managed to help mitigate against the risks by the provision of improved forage and nesting/overwinter sites.

Source:
Connolly CN. The risk of insecticides to pollinating insects. Commun Integr Biol 2013; 6: e25074; http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/cib.25074
Correspondence to: Christopher N. Connolly; Email: c.n.connolly@dundee.ac.uk