Plant protection products in rice cultivation: critical issues in risk assessment and management to promote sustainable use

We review how the risks posed by PPPs are currently evaluated, and consider where current risk assessment practices require improvement. Section 2 offers an overview of the evidence-based approach to risk assessment used to inform government regulation, and focuses on the importance of multi-tier assessments and the availability of a range of simulation models. Section 3 explains why ethical, social and behavioural issues must also be considered in order for risks to be effectively assessed and managed. In Sections 4 and 5, we move on to a discussion of managing the risks associated with pesticides and encouraging more sustainable rice cultivation. Section 4 considers the example of the European Sustainable Use Directive (SUD), and explains how IPM is an essential part of SUD’s strategy. Section 5 then argues that for IPM to be implemented successfully, it is essential for farmers and other stakeholders to be involved in developing the IPM strategy for a given situation.