Pest management and food production

The supply of food—especially grains—in developing countries will have to rise by around 70 percent by 2020 if the 6.5 billion people who are expected to be living there are going to be food secure. Nearly all of this increase in food supply is expected to come from developing countries themselves. Meeting this projected increase will require both a sustained rise in yields of the major grains and legumes and reduction in crop losses due to pests. Because opportunities for expanding irrigation and productive arable land are limited, future strategies will have to focus on raising the productivity of available land and water resources. There could hardly be a less efficient use of these resources than to invest time, money, and effort in producing food only to have it totally or partially destroyed by pests (see table). Depending on the levels of losses and costs involved, improved pest management would seem to be an important strategic component for increasing available supplies of food in developing countries. Policymakers interested in effective crop protection have to balance the social benefits and costs of pesticide use, and to do this, better knowledge about pest losses is required. Options for improving pest management include the development of pesticides that are more benign than current products. IPM promises to be the most pragmatic approach. Governments not only need to support IPM but also regulate hazardous pesticide use. Genetically engineered crops offer great promise but need to be monitored. Developing countries will have to invest in their own technological capacities or enter into sharing arrangements with corporations. Finally, ways to encourage corporate responsibility will have to be addressed.