Risk Assessment of Recommended Pesticides in Non-Target Organisms In Egyptian Agro-Ecosystems

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

Despite many advantages of pesticides, there are potential hazards or risks when using farm chemicals. These risks may be associated with all chemicals, whether they are industrial chemicals, pesticides, household products or even natural chemicals found in the environment. Undesirable side effects of the agro-chemicals uses usually stem from a lack of understanding of their risks for the environment. Some of these effects are: 1) reduction of beneficial species including; predators, parasitoids and pathogens of pests, as well pollinators, 2) residues in food for humans and feed for livestock can be a consequence of direct application of a chemical to the food sources, by the presence of pollutants in the environment or by transfer and bio-magnification of the chemical along a food chain, 3) resistance to a the pesticide used that developed in target and non-target pests due to overuse of the chemicals, and 4) soil and groundwater contamination by leached chemicals. The study aimed to assess the side effects of various recommended chemical pesticides by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture on non-target organisms in different Egyptian agricultural ecosystems. Throughout a period of (42 months, May 2013 – Jan. 2017), 190 field trials were conducted, in 14 locations (4 Governorates), in 15 crops, using 71 pesticides, on 20 target pests, 9 non-target pests and 5 non-target predatory species. The direct count technique was practiced for data collection. The majority of the recommended pesticides tested, demonstrated different population reduction percentages, reaching 85.8 and 94.60% for non-target pests and predators, respectively.

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