Study places Costa Rica among the largest consumer of pesticides in the world

Last week the World Resources Institute (WRI) released a study that ranks Costa Rica as a major consumer of pesticides in the world with a daily intake of 51 kilograms per hectare, followed in second place by Colombia with 16 kilograms per hectare. The Instituto Regional de Estudios en Sustancias Tóxicas de la Universidad de Costa Rica (Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances at the University of Costa Rica) shows that consumption of pesticides in the country increased by 340% in the period 1977 to 2006 and although it showed a significant decrease in 2009 in 2010 numbers soared to become the year with highest per capita consumption in history.

The Minister of Agriculture, Gloria Abraham, commented that the study is an alert about the use of chemicals in the country's small farmers. Abraham added that studies by the ministry show that in most cases farmers do not manage fully the impact of such chemicals or are not expressed by the sellers of fruits and vegetables, so that education is a key point in the process of reducing these issues. In 2010 the country recorded an import of 13 million kilograms of chemicals of which 30% is exported to other Central American countries and 70% is used for local consumption.