So why do farmers pay for and
use pesticides that may not be necessary in some cases? According
to Goulson farmers receive most
of their advice from agronomists
employed by the agrochemical industry, he went on to say:
“Farmers do not have any source of
good data, so they rely on advice.
It seems quite likely that they have
been using something that they
probably didn’t really need”.
yield benefits from neonic seed
dressing because the pesticide concentration was not high enough to
kill pests (8). These conclusions
are hotly contested by the agrochemical industry who says that
over time neonics do provide yield
benefits. Experts have suggested
that neonics should only be applied
if there is high “pest pressure” on
the crop. For example, there would
be little point in applying a pesticide in an area with no pests.
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