Guidelines On Procedures For The Registration Certification And Testing Of New Pesticide Application Equipment

The guidelines in this document outline how governments can influence pesticide safety by controlling the quality of new pesticide application equipment manufactured in or imported into a country. They address government officials in plant protection, environmental and other concerned authorities. By incorporating into national legislation, a requirement for manufacturers and importers to declare that application equipment meets acceptable, international standards of safety and durability, or to set up national or regional testing and certification procedures, it should be possible to gradually reduce and ultimately to eliminate sub-standard application equipment from farms.

The guidelines in this document are addressing government officials in plant protection, environmental and other concerned authorities. They consider the training, testing and certification of those who actually operate pesticide application equipment. Even the most well-designed and maintained applicators can do immeasurable damage in the hands of an unskilled operator and the importance of this guideline should not be under-estimated.

The guidelines in this document are addressing government officials in plant protection, environmental and other concerned authorities. They cover the testing and certification of the sprayers currently applying pesticides on commercial farms. The series addresses an urgent need in many countries to ensure that where pesticides are used in crop production, they are applied through equipment, which is safe and fully functional. The issue applies to aircraft, large, field crop and orchard sprayers as well as to operator-carried equipment.

The FAO minimum requirements in this publication are based on existing international, European and national standards and other published references. The guidelines provide a practical aid to assist purchasing and other agencies to avoid buying or approving sprayers with quality and design limitations, which could compromise operator and environmental safety. Member countries should adopt them immediately, to begin to eliminate substandard and unsafe sprayers from national markets and ultimately from the international scene.

The FAO minimum requirements in this publication are based on existing international, European and national standards and other published references. The guidelines on standards consist of detailed specifications and requirements, supported by test procedures, for the major types of agricultural pesticide sprayers. The aim of these guidelines is to provide manufacturers and governments with practical and consistent quality assurance systems.

In this fascinating book, Graham Matthews takes the reader through the history of the development and use of chemicals for control of pests, weeds, and vectors of disease. Prior to 1900 only a few chemicals had been employed as pesticides but in the early 1940s, as the Second World War raged, the insecticide DDT and the herbicide 2-4-D were developed. These changed everything. Since then, farmers have been using a growing list of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides to protect their crops. Their use has undoubtedly led to significant gains in agricultural production and reduction in disease transmission, but also to major problems: health concerns for both users of pesticides and the general public, the emergence of resistance in pest populations, and environmental problems. The book examines the development of legislation designed to control and restrict the use of pesticides, the emergence of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the use of biological control agents as part of policy to protect the environment and encourage the sustainable use of pesticides. Finally, the use of new technologies in pest control are discussed including the use of genetic modification, targeted pesticide application and use of drones, alongside basic requirements for IPM such as crop rotations, close seasons and adoption of plant varieties with resistance to pests and diseases.

These guidelines have been prepared to offer practical help and guidance to all those involved in using pesticides for food and fibre production as well as in Public Health programmes. The guidelines in this document cover the application of pesticides using aircraft, including the activities on the ground in support of the aerial application .

These guidelines have been prepared to offer practical help and guidance to all those involved in using pesticides for food and fibre production as well as in public health programmes. The guidelines in this document cover the application of pesticides using any ground-based field crop sprayers, including operator-carried and tree and bush crop sprayers.