Move to halt spraying of insecticides in rice fields

If successful, the campaign could mean a cleaner, greener environment for the world's largest rice exporter, as well as better health for tens of thousands of rice farmers and their families.

A special event publicising the launch of the campaign will be held in Bangkok on Thursday to coincide with a range of other activities to mark World Environment Day on Tuesday.

As rice fields cover 60% of agricultural land in Thailand, a reduction in insecticide use is sure to have a very positive effect on the environment.

Over the past decade, scientists from the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) found that many of the insecticide sprays used by Asian rice farmers were unnecessary.

Worse, the sprays disrupted the natural balance of rice ecosystems and encouraged the proliferation of so-called secondary pests, which normally are too few in number to affect the harvest.

In a recent research paper, "Impact of Insecticides on Rice Ecosystems," two IRRI scientists, KL Heong and KG Schoenly, estimated that insecticide-sprayed fields harbour about 4 million more pests per hectare than paddies where such sprays are not used.

"When applied in the early stages of a crop, insecticides affect insect population dynamics and shorten food chains," Dr Heong explained. "In some ways, it's like setting off a bomb in the ecosystem."To convince rice farmers in Vietnam to reduce insecticide use, Dr Heong launched an innovative media campaign that resulted in a 53% drop in crop spraying on more than a million farms.

On the back of this success, Dr Heong and his team are now planning to clean up millions of hectares in Thailand.

In collaboration with IRRI, the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry is launching a campaign in Thailand to get farmers to reduce their insecticide applications in the first 40 days of the growing season.

The multi-media campaign will distribute 30,000 pamphlets, 10,000 posters and 100 cassettes, with special radio dramas throughout Bang Rachan district in Sing Buri province, where the message will also occupy 10 billboards.

Campaign organiser Lakchai Meenakanit, the director of the Institute of Biological Control and Farmer Schools, expects a 30% reduction in insecticide use by the end of the campaign.

"It's the first time we're trying a multi-media campaign like this aimed at farmers," said Pramoj Raksarart, director-general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, who initiated the project. "So it will be very interesting to see the results."