Pesticides could cost rice farmers in the Philippines more in medical bills than they earn from the extra rice they harvest, warned a group of agricultural economists last week.
Farmers who sprayed pesticides on their fields were twice as likely to suffer from kidney or respiratory ailments, and had a fivefold increase in eye problems. They also suffered more from skin complaints, and cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological and haematological problems. 'The value of crops lost to pests is invariably lower than the cost of treating pesticide-caused disease,' say Agnes Rola of the University of the Philippines and Prabhu Pingali of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines.
The results of the Philippines study were presented in Washington DC at the annual meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a network of research centres, including IRRI, supported by government donations.
The government of the Philippines is actively ...
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