Pesticides, rice productivity and health impacts in the Philippines.

A case study examined pest control strategies rice productivity and occupational health effects in Guimba Nueva Ecija in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. The strategies included complete protection (mean of 9 sprays of pesticide/season) economic threshold method (treatment only when a preset threshold for economic damage was reached) natural control (natural predator-prey dynamics of paddy ecosystem) and current farmers practice (2-3 sprays/season). When the researchers did not include the cost of restoring individuals to health farmers practice and natural control usually were the most economical method depending on the season. Their net benefits were higher than both economic threshold or complete protection practices (14000 pesos/hectare vs. 11846 pesos/hectare). Changes of input price had the largest effect on relative benefits. When the researchers considered health costs of farmers natural control was always the most economic strategy. In fact it had the highest net benefits while complete protection had 50% lower net benefits than other strategies. These findings suggest that the natural pest-control option was the most economical option. Thus the researchers recommend that Chile should develop alternative pest management strategies in a broader health and ecological context. National pesticide policies should call for a great reduction in the use of the most hazardous pesticides in rice production and eliminate all subsidies on pesticide use.