The future of pesticide use: The responsibility of developed nations toward lesser developed nations

The world's population doubled between 1950 and 1985. Nevertheless, through progress in agricultural science, increases in food production were achiev ed on an almost constant cultivated area. The predicted growth in world pop ulation to 6.1 billion by the year 2000 will continue to demand increases i n food production on available agricultural land averaging only 0.2 ha per capita. Although pesticide use is a major contributor to stable crop yields , concern over consequences of injudicious pesticide use led to regulatory requirements for environmental fate data. The world pesticide market is dom inated by about 10 corporations. Their intensive research and that of acade mic and government institutions in developed countries is essential to guar antee harvests. Developing countries must share benefits of pesticide devel opment both to feed their populations and because their economic and social structures are influenced by the need to sell agricultural produce to rich er countries. Consequently, developed countries have a moral obligation to adapt pesticide development to needs of Third World countries by providing them with appropriate testing techniques, assisting them to conduct environ mental testing programs, and ensuring that data are obtained under relevant QA/QC and GLP procedures.