Pesticide Use in Brazil Susmita Dasgupta Craig Meisner Nlandu Mamingi DECRG-IE, The World Bank

Exports and imports of agricultural products Source: FAO, 1999 Trade of agricultural commodities has increased to record levels in the 1990s

Growth in agricultural production and key export crops, Source: FAO, 1999 A significant proportion of this growth is attributable to major export crops

 Sales of pesticide more than doubled from 1990 ($US 1.08 billion) to 1998 ($US 2.56 billion) (ANDEF, 1998)  Pesticide use has increased from 61,820 tons of active ingredients in 1989 to 113,933 tons in 1997 (SINDAG, 1997)  Brazil, one of the top 5 users worldwide, accounted for 40% of total consumption in Latin America (O Estado São Paulo, 1996)

Total sales of pesticides over time Source: ANDEF, 1998

Sales of pesticides over time Source: ANDEF, 1998 During the 1990s, herbicide sales dominated, accounting for 54% of total pesticide use followed by insecticides-acaricides (28%) and fungicides (16%)

Composition of pesticide use, 1997  Brazil currently uses 655 different brands of herbicides, 815 insecticides, 343 fungicides and 136 other pesticides  48% of pesticides are classified by the WHO as either class 1a (extremely hazardous) or 1b (highly hazardous) Source: ANDEF, 1998

Number of pesticide-related intoxication cases Source: SINITOX, 1999 The number of pesticide-related intoxications has been steadily rising, mostly in the Southeast

Number of pesticide-related deaths Source: SINITOX, 1999 With a significant number of these intoxications resulting in death

300,000 cases of pesticide intoxication and 10,000 deaths each year (O Globo, 1996; PANNA, 1997); Costs: US$ 47 million annually (O Globo, 1996)

Evidence of the environmental impacts of pesticide use  Organophosphate and pyrethroid residues exceed WHO standards in 35.3% of water samples collected from irrigation and drinking water (Inoue et al., 1993).  Reported poisoning of millions of birds in furadan-treated wheat fields in Santa Catarina (PANNA, 1994).  Pulverization of tomatoes have contaminated wells and ponds with organophosphates in Pernambuco (Jornal do Comercio, 1997).  Inappropriate management of pesticides has resulted in serious soil contamination in Bahia (A Tarde, 1997).

Geographical Pattern of Pesticide Use

The Model i = municipality 1,...., 4909 j = j th category of the relevant variable

Variable description PROPUSE - Proportion of agricultural land reporting pesticide use OWN Owner, Renter, Sharecropper, Squatter SIZE <10 ha, ha, , , LUSE Permanent crop, Temporary crop, Seed production, Livestock, Crop & Livestock, Aquaculture, Charcoal production CONSERV Conservation tillage MINCOMEMedian income of the head of the household EDUC Percentage of population with secondary education CROP76 major crops in Brazil

Pattern of Propensity to Use Pesticide (%) VariableRegression Coefficient (all significant at 10% level of significance) Intercept Median Income3.43E-06 Square of Median Income-9.46E-12 Proportion of Population with Secondary Education Proportion of Individual Owners Proportion of Sharecroppers0.103 Proportion of Farm Size : ha Proportion of Farm Size: ha0.291 Proportion of farms with Conservation tillage0.282 Proportion of farms with Crop-livestock land us0.239 Cocoa0.063 Coffee Cotton1.038 Soybean0.793 Sugar0.494 Tobacco0.884 Fruits0.355 Vegetables0.262 Grains0.158

Findings  Income and Education are important  Ownership type matters  Size class matters  Land use pattern is important  Conservation tillage is important  Crop pattern is a significant determinant

Pesticide use for major export crops Source: ANDEF, 1998 Soybeans, Fruits Sugarcane, Coffee, Cotton, Tobacco and Cocoa accounted for 25% of total agricultural exports during 1997

Proportion of active ingredients belonging to each toxicity category across the receiving environment

Global Pesticide Statistics  Worldwide, about 2.6 million tons of active ingredients are applied worth about $US38 billion (Aspelin, 1997)  Worldwide there are 700,000 cases of pesticide- related occupational intoxications, 300,000 accidents, 735,000 chronic intoxications, 2 million suicides each year (WHO, 1996)