Move to rein in high use of pesticides in UAE agriculture

The pesticide consumption in agriculture is much higher in the UAE than other parts of the world, an expert said on Monday.

The pesticide consumption in the UAE is 9.86 kilograms per hectare in the UAE whereas it is 0.5 kg in India, 1.5 kg in the US and 1.9 kg in Europe, Ramasamy Srinivasan, entomologist, The World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC), said in Taiwan.

He was speaking at a symposium on ‘Integrated management system for agricultural pests' in Al Ain on Monday, organised by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority's (ADFCA) development sector.

Srinivasan said alternative pest management strategies are needed to prevent adverse effects on human health and the environment caused by the overuse of pesticides.

In his opening address at the symposium, Rashid Mohammad Al Shariqi, director general of ADFCA, said that the Authority has already started addressing the concerns about high pesticide consumption. The pest management efforts in farming are crucial for better productivity and food safety, he said.

A senior official told Gulf News on Monday that Abu Dhabi's efforts to reduce the use of pesticides in farming by 2013 will also lower the reported higher consumption rate of pesticides in the UAE.

Targeted reductions

"We are making all efforts to reduce the use of pesticide in farming in the emirate by 25 per cent by 2013 as part of the sustainable agriculture strategy," Mohammad Jalal Al Reyaysa, director of communication and community services at ADFCA, said.

The Farmers Service Centre (FSC) under ADFCA has started resorting to biological and mechanical methods to control pests in order to do away with chemical pesticides in many farms, he said. Al Reyaysa said such measures are gradually being extended to all 24,000 farms in the emirate.

"These efforts will also reduce the reported higher consumption rate of pesticides in the UAE because most of the agricultural land in the country is in Abu Dhabi," the official said.

Local produce

He said 90 per cent of the local produce will be fully compliant with international standards by 2013.

The symposium held in-depth discussions on various aspects of pest management in farming, especially the ill-effects of some methods and the healthier alternatives available.

Current pesticide input levels are unsustainable and a cause for serious concern for human health, Michael L. Deadman, from the Department of Crop Sciences at the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, said.

The red palm weevil was a major threat to the date palm farms in the Gulf countries since its earliest report in mid-eighties, P.S.P.V. Vidyasagar, chair of date palm research, plant protection department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said.