Historical trends of the ecotoxicological pesticide risk from the main grain crops in Rolling Pampa (Argentina)

Abstract

We showed the results of the first long-term analysis (1987-2019) of pesticide impact in the main agricultural area of Argentina. Using a clear and meaningful tool, based not only on acute toxicity but also on scaling up the results to total sown area, we identified time trends for both total pesticide impact and the ecoefficiency of modal pesticide profiles. By the end of the time series, soybean showed a pesticide impact four times greater than maize crop in the studied area. However, the time trend in the last years showed a sustainable pattern of pesticide use, with an improvement in the ecoefficiency. Oppositely, maize showed a relatively constant ecoefficiency value during most of the time series, suggesting a possible path towards an unsustainable cropping system. Findings from this study suggest that some efforts have to be made to improve the pest management decisions towards a more efficient pesticide profiles in maize crop and to keep improving the ecotoxicity pesticide profile in soybean crops because of its large sown area in the studied area.