PARIS: France’s winter wheat harvest could shrink by over a tenth if farmers meet targets to halve pesticide use, said a study Thursday highlighting the challenge of feeding Earth’s growing population.

The estimates come from field trials where scientists compared yields to cuts in pesticide use.

Extrapolated for the country as a whole, halving pesticide use could mean a decline in winter wheat production of two to three million tonnes per year, the researchers said.

This amounts to a reduction of five to 13 per cent of national production of winter wheat, and 15pc of French wheat exports.

Halving pesticide use “may not be profitable for farmers”, the team wrote in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

With projections of an extra two billion mouths to feed by 2050 and a shortage of new farmland, increasing crop yield per hectare has never been as urgent.

Pesticides played a crucial role in doubling the average yield of cereal crops worldwide from 1960 to 1990, but their impact on human health and biodiversity have made them controversial.

European farmers are encouraged to limit pesticide use, and French environmental policy targets a 50pc reduction by 2018.

Now researchers have calculated what the impact of such a policy is likely to be.

They used data from 176 experimental farming plots from four sites in France that compared yields for wheat grown with pesticides, with less pesticides, or with none.

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
Updated 29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

It is clear that going after militant groups inside Afghanistan unilaterally presents its own set of difficulties.
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...