Neighbours in periurban areas are more negative than farmers to pesticide use, and this negative view is more pronounced in Central Sweden than in the South. The use of pesticides in private gardens is however equally common among farmers and neighbours. These conclusions are presented by Nur Ahmed in a thesis from SLU. He also shows that insecticide use in rapeseed crops can reduce the amount of pests in nearby gardens.
Public concern of pesticide use is very high in society, although it varies with social, ethical and political factors. For farmers on the outskirts of towns and cities, activities such as pesticide spraying therefore may cause tensions.
In his doctoral work Ahmed Nur has conducted a survey that shows how attitudes to pesticide use differ between farmers and their neighbours in periurban areas in the Southern Swedish province Scania (Skåne) and the region (Mälardalen) surrounding the lake Mälaren, that drains into the Baltic Sea in the Stockholm area.
Greater acceptance in Scania
The survey shows that the neighbours have a much more negative view of the use of pesticides than farmers have. It also shows that attitudes are more negative in Mälardalen than in Skåne. Approximately 65 percent of the neighbours in Mälardalen considered chemical control to be bad or very bad, while only 14 percent of farmers in Skåne took that view. For neighbours in Skåne and farmers in Mälardalen the corresponding values were 33 and 28 percent respectively. Interestingly, the survey also shows that farmers and neighbours use pesticides in their home setting (garden, lawn, etc.) to a similar extent.
Damage reduction in gardens
In another part of his thesis Nur Ahmed has used field experiments to show that chemical control of insects in a crop may reduce the amount of insect pests in nearby gardens. In gardens in the vicinity of rape fields, there were significantly larger numbers of ground flea beetles and pollen beetles when the rape crop had not been sprayed than when it had been sprayed. More severe attacks were observed on radish as well as on ornamental plants and wild flowers. The reduction in attacks through spraying was not an effect of pesticide drift into the gardens, but of a decrease in the number of these pests in the area.
Nur Ahmed stresses that it is complicated to predict the effect of pesticide use in farm crops on garden vegetation, since there are many factors to consider. However, he believes that the knowledge obtained can add to the understanding of conflict issues in periurban areas.
Nur Ahmed, Department of Agrosystems, SLU, Alnarp, defends his thesis Pesticide use in periurban areas. Farmers' and neighbours' perception and attitudes and agricultural field influences on pests in nearby garden plants on Friday, June 1, 2012 at 10:00.
Venue: Crafoordsalen, Navet, SLU Alnarp
Opponent: Professor Heikki M.T. Hokkanen, University of Helsinki, Finland
More information: Nur Ahmed, +46 (0)40-41 52 73, +46 (0)73-735 52 92, Nur.Ahmed@slu.se
Link to the thesis (pdf):
http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/8892/
Press images (may be published without charge in articles about the dissertation, please acknowledge the photographer):
Pollen beetles on garden ornamental flower nearby winter oilseed rape field. Photo: Nur Ahmed
Nur Ahmed doing field work. Photo: Inger Åhman
Nur Ahmed examining insect damage on a radish crop. Photo: Morshed Anwar
Press releases from SLU:
http://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/press-room/