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Aerial applications of pesticides in the United Kingdom: 1978 to 1998
Author(s) -
Wardman Oliver L,
Thomas Miles R
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1526-4998(200003)56:3<237::aid-ps129>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - pesticide , agriculture , environmental protection , legislation , christian ministry , environmental science , pesticide residue , toxicology , aerial application , geography , agronomy , biology , political science , archaeology , law
The aerial application of pesticides increased rapidly following the end of the Second World War, as, along with the development of a wider range of synthetic pesticides, more planes and pilots became available. It also became clear that new and previously inaccessible areas could be sprayed from the air. By the 1980s there were around 100 planes in the United Kingdom (UK) capable of spraying pesticides. However, increasing environmental pressure brought about the introduction of tougher legislation to control pesticide usage. The Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 and the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 (as amended) introduced tight controls over the application of pesticides from the air. Aerial application of pesticides has been monitored each year by the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) since 1978, during which time the area treated has decreased significantly. This has been partly as a result of changes in legislation but also due to technological improvements in conventional crop‐protection methods. The area treated from the air in the UK has never risen above 2.5% of the area treated from the ground and in 1998 had fallen to less than 0.04% of the total area treated with pesticides. It is likely that this figure will continue to fall in the future. By 1998, the only pesticides to be sprayed from the air comprised fungicides, herbicides and insecticides. As a group, herbicides comprised the greatest area of treatment and the only target to show an increase in area treated in recent years has been bracken ( Pteridium aquilinum (L) Kuhn). © Crown copyright 2000. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.